China’s COMAC intends to increase production capacity of C919 jets to 50 this year, according to Reuters

BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) – Chinese planemaker COMAC plans to increase production capacity for its domestic single-aisle C919 jets to 50 this year, a COMAC executive told a government-backed media outlet in Shanghai.

COMAC Deputy General Manager Shen Bo also said the Shanghai-based state-owned company aims to produce 30 C919 aircraft this year, in an interview with The Paper published on Saturday.

COMAC seeks to compete internationally with leading Western aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing ( NYSE 🙂 ), which produce dozens of their single-aisle A320neo and 737 MAX family of planes each month.

Increasing production and obtaining certification from foreign aviation regulators are key to the Chinese plane maker’s growth strategy.

The C919 entered commercial service in 2023 and around 16 aircraft are currently operating with Chinese airlines, flying within the mainland and from this month to Hong Kong.

Aerospace consultancy Cirium said it expects to deliver 27 more C919s this year.

China’s three leading state-owned airlines, Air China ( OTC: ), China Eastern Airlines ( OTC: ) and China Southern Airlines, are expected to operate a fleet of at least 100 C919s each by 2031, according to their announced orders.

In 2023, a COMAC official said the company aims to achieve an annual production capacity of 150 C919 aircraft in the next five years.

In addition to the C919, COMAC is also developing the larger C929 wide-body jet.

Shen said the C929 is in the preliminary design and supplier selection stage, with plans to move into the detailed design stage soon.

Air China will be the first customer for the C929, COMAC said in November.