Hello All,
Comac announced 100-unit orders from Air China and China Southern Airlines. The big three Chinese carriers now have triple-digit C919 order books. Does it mean that the days of bumper single-aisle Airbus and Boeing orders in China are over?
Orders are cheap, and deliveries are the real deal
So far there have been five Comac C919 deliveries since 2022, all to China Eastern Airlines. The production ramp-up has so far been slow, which is not that surprising given supply chain issues and the fact the Chinese OEM is relatively new to the commercial aircraft business compared with Airbus and Boeing.
Before the 737 MAX grounding and the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese carriers were taking deliveries of around 300 single-aisle aircraft annually. A couple of annual C919 deliveries will not significantly impact their fleet plans. The big three carriers operate hundreds of single-aisle aircraft.
To become relevant, COMAC will need to deliver north of 100 C919s every year, and those C919s will also need to be operationally reliable. The Chinese OEM still has a long way to go before having an impact.
While the bumper orders are good news for COMAC, reaching triple-digit annual C919 deliveries is the key milestone for the Chinese OEM.
EPSILON AVIATION 