COMAC to build 168 seat single aisle aircraft, it is going to give Airbus and Boeing a run for their money

Commercial Aircraft corp. of China Ltd, commonly known as COMAC, is working on a 168-seat single aisle aircraft C919, hoping that the plan would help the plane maker break into big league. The dream basically here, is to challenge duopoly of Airbus Group SE and Boeing Co. in the global market for air planes. That ambition is slowly taking shape in a hangar in Shanghai.

The first test flight has been postponed at least twice since 2014. The builder claims that it already has commitments from 21 customers of 517 planes. At the Zhuhai Air Show this week, COMAC is set to showcase the aircraft with a mock-up and could announce more interest from prospective buyers.

The passenger jet project is part of an ambitious plan by President Xi Jinping to transform China from a maker of sneakers, apparels and toys into one that can compete with the likes of Airbus and Boeing. Getting the C919 from the design board to the skies is crucial for Xi, who has identified aerospace among sectors that could help accelerate modernization of the economy to resemble Japan and Germany.

"Domestic airplane manufacturing is a good case of the country's ambition to secure a foothold at the very top of the global value chain. There's still some serious groundwork to do to eventually realize its ambition of mastering sophisticated design and manufacturing processes,” said Liu Yuanchun, executive dean of the National Academy of Development and Strategy at Renmin University of China in Beijing.

COMAC kicked off research and development on the C919 in 2008 as soon as the establishment of the company. The mission was to realize the dream of building and flying a large commercial aircraft -- hailed as the "flower, and "pearl, of modern manufacturing and embodiment of the nation's technological standing.

“China may eventually pull it off with the C919, but the aircraft may be initially confined only to the domestic market and to some interest from a few developing countries,” Shukor Yusof, a founder of aviation consulting firm Endau Analytics in Malaysia told ET.

“Safety concerns may deter the world's top airlines from opting for the jet,” he added.

Shukor feels that with few upgrades, the jet would be taken seriously by the world but he also feels that to reach that comfort levels, it could take two more decades.