Two C919s flew to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) on the morning of September 13th, preparing for the Type Certification ceremony which is thought to be scheduled for September 19th (9/19).The two C919s, registered as B-001F and B-001J, took off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) at 9:07 am and 9:41 am, arriving in Beijing at 10:51 am and 11:23 am, respectively, according to data from Flightradar24.com.
Sources close to CAAC and COMAC said the C919 Type Certificate issuing ceremony would be held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on September 19th, in a nod to the aircraft's model type. There is a typhoon hitting Eastern China, including the city of Shanghai, from this Wednesday, so it is a safe choice to fly the C919s to Beijing days in advance of the presumed ceremony date.
Along with the two C919s, COMAC flew a third aircraft, an ARJ21 (B-3328), to Beijing. It's been reported by the Chinese media that COMAC has been developing serialization of ARJ21 type, including emergency medical aircraft.
The ARJ21's Type Certification story
Last time COMAC received a Type Certificate (TC) from CAAC was for the ARJ21 program. The ARJ21 was issued a TC on December 30th, 2014, six years after its maiden flight.
On December 30th, 2014, COMAC flew an ARJ21 from Shanghai to Beijing with the CAAC administrator, Mr. Li Jiaxiang, and Chairman of COMAC, Mr. Jin Zhuanglong onboard. Mr. Li later retired in 2015 at the age of 66, and Mr. Jin is now the Minister of Industry and Information Technology of China.
The ARJ21 TC issuing ceremony was held at the Great Hall of the People. Before the ceremony, the Vice Premier, Mr. Ma Kai made a special trip to the Beijing Capital International Airport to visit the ARJ21 just flown there.
The same drill will be presumably taken place next Monday, only this time, the leading role in the spotlight will be Mr. Song Zhiyong, the new CAAC chief, and Mr. He Dongfeng, the Chairman of COMAC.
COMAC's international explorer
COMAC has submitted the Type Certificate application to the FAA for ARJ21, and the FAA started the shadow investigation years ago. However, there is no sign that ARJ21 will be certified by the FAA in the near future. However, the ARJ21 has been issued a Verified Type Certificate (VTC) by the Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority, and that's why Indonesian carrier TransNusa is likely to be the first overseas operator for ARJ21 aircraft.
COMAC turned to EASA for the C919 Type Certificate. There are few reports on how the assessment of EASA is going.
Major achievements of the C919 program
The C919 program started its project assessment in 2006. Two years later, COMAC was founded to lead the project. The program's name, "C919," was unveiled in 2009. COMAC has built six C919 (MSN 001-006) for experimental flight tests. MSN 001 took the program's first flight on May 5th, 2017.
In March 2021, COMAC and China Eastern Airlines jointly announced the confirmed purchase order of five C919 aircraft and signed the contract in Shanghai. The first C919 for the initial customer, China Eastern, has already taken its maiden flight last May.
COMAC announced on July 23rd that all the C919 test flights before certification are completed, which, in COMAC's words, signals that "the C919 certification is now towards the end."
COMAC plans to deliver one C919 before the end of 2022 to China Eastern.
What do you think the future holds for the C919 now that it's finally approaching its type certification? Share your thoughts with Simple Flying in the comments.