China's COMAC obtains C919 production certificate

China Eastern to debut commercial C919 flight ops in 2Q23

Indonesia's TransNusa takes delivery of ARJ21-700

TransNusa (8B, Kupang) has taken delivery of its first ARJ21-700, PK-TJA ( msn 186), which was officially handed over on Sunday, December 18. The occasion also marks the first delivery of the aircraft type to a customer outside China. The Indonesian low-cost carrier was meant to take the plane late last year, the first of 30 it has due from COMAC, but owing to the pandemic and the suspension of TransNusa flights, the delivery was deferred.

COMAC has delivered twenty-seven ARJ21s this year and a total of 93 since production began - all to Chinese carriers such as Chengdu Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Express Airlines, Jiangxi Airlines, and OTT Airlines. TransNusa's interest in the ARJ21 may be partly explained by its ownership structure. China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings (CALC) holds a 49% equity interest in PT TransNusa Aviation Mandiri (TransNusa's formal name). CALC is a subsidiary of the state-owned China Everbright Group which has a long-term customer relationship with state-owned COMAC. CALC...

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China Eastern Airlines takes first C919

China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) has taken delivery of the world's first AC!C19 amid plans to induct it into revenue service in summer 2023.

B-919A (msn 107) was officially handed over on December 9, 2022, following a delivery flight from Shanghai Pudong to nearby Shanghai Hongqiao.

The aircraft, which was previously registered as B-001J as a testbed for manufacturer COMAC, is configured to seat up to 164 passengers, including eight in business class and 156 in economy. China Eastern has allocated a pool of 24 type-rated pilots to conduct the necessary proving flights, which are expected to take a few months. The carrier will deploy its first C919 to a range of airports on its domestic network. Once it completes certification, it expects to begin revenue operations at some point in spring 2023.

China Eastern Airlines expects to take another four C919s in 2023.