C919
Overview
China's first domestically developed narrow-body single-aisle commercial airliner, designed to compete directly with the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX. Powered by CFM International LEAP-1C engines with a domestic CJ-1000A engine in flight-test on a Y-20 testbed and now expected to enter daily C919 service around 2028-2029.
In commercial service since May 2023 with about 42 cumulative deliveries as of mid-September 2026, including 10 delivered year-to-date (8 in H1, 2 in July, 0 in August, none publicly recorded in the first half of September). The 2026 ramp is well behind plan versus the 33 Chinese airlines projected for the year, with labor shortages and LEAP-1C supply identified as bottlenecks; IBA still expects roughly 28 C919s for the full year. On August 12, 2026 the C919 flew its first-ever international route, Air China's daily Beijing-Ulaanbaatar service, taking the fleet's cumulative network to 58 routes / 26 cities and over 7.5 million passengers. Leeham's September 1 recap, citing Cirium, said Air China had 12 C919s in service. COMAC is also growing the C919 into a family: the plateau-optimized C919-600 (140-seat, Tibet Airlines launch customer with 40 orders) completed its maiden flight on July 29, 2026, and a stretched 200+ seat C919-800 is in joint development with China Eastern targeting 2030 service.