Earlier this week, Chinese aircraft manufacturer Comac achieved the notable milestone of operating its first test flight with its new C919-600 narrowbody twinjet airliner. This derivative of the Asian planemaker’s C919 series is smaller than the family’s other variants, but it has the distinct advantage of being designed specifically to operate out of high-altitude airports, of which China’s plateaus house several.
The test flight, which took place on Wednesday, lasted just shy of two hours, with the jet taking off from and returning to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) on the east coast of China. COMAC has highlighted this milestone as “an important step forward in the series development of C919 aircraft,” and it will be interesting to see how flight testing progresses. Let’s take a closer look at this milestone.
According to present fleet data made available by ch-aviation, COMAC’s C919-600 test aircraft bears the registration B-002U. As seen in the map above, on Wednesday, July 29, the jet took to the skies over Shanghai at 7:59 AM local time. According to the tracking data from Flightradar24, the aircraft reached a maximum GPS altitude of around 22,000 feet as it circled just to the northeast of the city.
It subsequently touched back down at Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 9:58 AM local time on Wednesday, after spending a grand total of one hour and 59 minutes in the air. A brief statement released by COMAC in conjunction with the test flight confirmed that the jet “completed all the scheduled flight test subjects” during its maiden voyage. The Chinese aircraft manufacturer went on to explain that:
“Based on the baseline version aircraft, the plateau version of C919 has adopted targeted design [changes] such as shortening the fuselage and improving the system functions to meet the requirements of operating at plateaus.”
As previously noted, the C919-600 is a more compact version of the Comac C919 that is designed specifically for high-altitude operations. With this in mind, it is unsurprising to read that, according to AeroTime, COMAC is developing the jet alongside Xizang Airlines: after all, this carrier, which was formerly known as Tibet Airlines, is based out of Lhasa Airport, which sits 3,570 meters (11,710 feet) high.
This smaller aircraft will reportedly have a reduced capacity of 140 to 160 passengers, compared to 158 to 192 for the standard C919-100 and C919-100ER models. Its more compact design has been enabled by removing six fuselage frames. Interestingly, as well as shrinking the jet, COMAC also plans to make a stretched-fuselage model known as the C919-800 that would seat as many as 240 passengers.
According to ch-aviation, Xizang Airlines is the only carrier to have ordered the COMAC C919-600, with a grand total of 40 units of the jet set to join its fleet. The carrier’s current portfolio of commercial aircraft features 27 Airbus A319-100s, 15 A319neos (plus five on order), six A320-200s, and five A330-200s. In addition to its order for 40 COMAC C919-600s, Xizang Airlines has also committed to ten C909 jets.
The Comac C919’s debut on Air China’s international route between Beijing and Ulaanbaatar marks a significant milestone for the Chinese aircraft.
Given the specialized nature of the COMAC C919-600, it is understandable that it has a limited level of commercial appeal, and has thus only secured orders from one airline so far. The family’s other current modified derivative, the longer-range C919-100ER, has two customers: China Eastern Airlines has just one example in its fleet, while Air China has received 12 units and has orders for 93 more.
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However, it is the standard C919-100 variant where COMAC has had the most success on a commercial level. Thus far, 16 units have entered service with China Eastern Airlines alongside 12 at China Southern: these carriers also respectively have another 89 and 88 units on order. Elsewhere, Suparna Airlines has ordered two C919-100s, and there are also undisclosed orders for a whopping 485 more jets.
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