As China continues to promote its home-grown C919 passenger plane to overseas markets – and builds a name for the jet in Southeast Asia – it could take longer than expected for the aircraft to receive a coveted endorsement from the European Union’s safety regulator.
In remarks published by French magazine L’Usine Nouvelle on Monday, Florian Guillermet, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), said certification for the narrowbody C919 – essential for the sale of any aircraft to European carriers – will not be granted this year.
“As we informed them officially, the C919 cannot be certified in 2025 ... We should be certifying the C919 within three to six years,” Guillermet said.
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Analysts did not expect the news to deter the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), the jet’s manufacturer, in its attempts to enter a major overseas market, as the company still has cards left to play.
“C919’s reliability and safety have to be proven by more flights, and it is definitely normal for [the regulator] to have a sceptical and scrutinising attitude,” aviation analyst Li Hanming said.
Following its first commercial flight in May 2023, Comac’s plane has been in regular use on several domestic flight paths, transporting over 1 million passengers as of January 2025.
The company received at least 300 firm orders from major Chinese airlines in 2024, with the jet now flying commercial routes in mainland China and Hong Kong. The airliner has also made high-profile appearances at international air shows.
The C919’s European certification process started four years ago, including two “very productive” years, according to Guillermet of EASA.
The European agency and the Civil Aviation Administration of China signed the EU-China Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement in 2019, which reciprocally simplified the approval process for civil aviation vessels and equipment.
That deal should encourage the two regulators to share data on aircraft seeking certification, said Mayur Patel, Asia head at British aviation intelligence firm OAG.
European regulators visited Shanghai last July to operate C919 simulators, and reportedly gave positive feedback.
“Comac is putting a lot of resources, determination and technical means into this certification,” Guillermet told the French magazine. “I have no doubt the company will succeed.”
Comac is jockeying for position in the global narrowbody aircraft market with long-standing industry giants Airbus and Boeing. The single-aisle C919, which can fit up to 192 seats, largely matches the Airbus 320 or Boeing 737 aircraft families in terms of technical capability.
Its smaller predecessor the C909, formerly known as the ARJ21, mostly flies regional routes in China and Southeast Asia. Laos and Vietnam cleared it this year for leases by local carriers.
“It’s too early to talk about market share,” Lin said. “There are just a handful of C919s out there now.”
While a three-year wait in Europe is normal, six years would be unusually long, said Eric Lin, head of Greater China research at investment bank UBS. He added it would be especially odd to see such a long delay as several airlines outside China, including Irish budget carrier Ryanair, have expressed interest in the C919.
He said a crucial test will be for the C919 to fly inside Europe in “extreme” weather such as storms or high heat.
“It’s too early to talk about market share,” Lin said. “There are just a handful of C919s out there now.”
Engine certification does take time, Patel said, hypothesising the European safety agency will need a longer period to size up the engines, the configuration of other aircraft parts and the flame resistance of materials on board.
The relatively small number of C919s in service now gives Europe few “data points” to work from, Patel added.
“It’s not just in-service operation, they’ve got to look at emergency evacuation, even the material of the cushions in the cabin,” he said. “It goes through a stringent process.”
More from South China Morning Post:
- Development of Chinese engine to make C919 truly home-grown ‘progressing well’
- Comac ramps up challenge to Boeing and Airbus with plans to boost C919 production capacity
- China’s C919 jet passes Lunar New Year test as usage rate soars
- Applicants wanted: China’s C919 to benefit as Beijing bankrolls ‘large aircraft’ research
- China’s Comac doubles down on safety as C919 roll-out enters ‘critical stage’
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