The C919 was born to stand up to Boeing and Airbus. Data shows how close (or far) you are from achieving it

If you have made a medium-haul flight in recent years, it is most likely that you have traveled on an Airbus A320 family or Boeing 737 family aircraft. It is the unwritten rule of many of these journeys: two industrial giants and a market that for decades has seemed almost closed to any applicant. China has been trying for years to gain a foothold in that segment with the C919, its single-aisle aircraft developed by COMAC. And the latest data suggests that the project is beginning to leave behind the phase in which it could only be read as a promise.

This jump can be seen in the operational data collected by Flight Master and citated by China Dailand. In April, the C919 completed 3,190 flights, 117.9% more than in the same month of the previous year, and some aircraft recorded up to 10.7 flight hours per day. The accumulated figure also helps measure progress: as of April 30, 2026, the aircraft had exceeded 42,000 commercial flights since its entry into service. While the data does not make the C919 an immediate global rival to Airbus and Boeing, it does show that the program is moving forward.

Let’s look back for a moment. The C919 made its first flight test on May 5, 2017, was delivered for the first time in December 2022 and officially entered commercial service in May 2023, with a route between Shanghai and Beijing. Since then, its network has gradually expanded until connecting 29 airports: 28 in mainland China and one in Hong Kong. As we can see, this is a domestic expansion, but it clearly no longer plays the experimental role.

C919 flies more and more, but still depends on key parts

Okay, but how many airplanes really sustain that growth? According to China Daily, at the end of April China Eastern Airlines operated 15 units of the C919, Air China had 11 and China Southern Airlines had 10. The distribution between the three large Chinese airlines reinforces the presence of the model in the local market. However, the figure forces us to put the progress in perspective: the fleet is still small compared to the usual volumes of Western competitors.

That is why the key is not only in how many C919s there are, but in what performance they are giving in operation. According to Flight Master, since the beginning of 2026, 88.5% of C919 activity has corresponded to operations with at least four daily sectors. Zhu Keli maintains that the use of the plane is already close to that of comparable models more common single aisle, which translates into a sign of greater maturity in maintenance, crew scheduling and ground services.

The limit appears when you look beyond the daily operation. IBA Group pointed out in August 2025 that international certification continues to advance slowly and keeps the C919 largely focused on the Chinese market. The consulting firm recalled that the European Aviation Safety Agency had confirmed in April 2025 that the validation of the plane would require at least three to six years from the technical familiarization phase. This schedule does not prevent the program from gaining volume within China, but it does help to understand why its international leap is more complicated.

LEAP -1C, the Western engine used by the Chinese Comac C919

The most delicate vulnerability is in the engine. The C919 that flies today uses the engine LEAP-1C of CFM International, a joint venture of GE Aerospace and Safran, and that dependence has already proven to be more than a technical issue. Last year, let us remember, the geopolitical and commercial tensions they altered the production of the program, with a temporary suspension of the supply of that engine. IBA Group also identifies the dependence on imported engines and avionics as a relevant limitation.

China is trying to close that gap with political support, planned production and more control over critical parts. According to SCMPthe national plan for 2026-2030 places among its priorities the increase in production, the stability of the supply chain and the advancement of the CJ-1000A engine, called to reduce foreign dependence on the C919. IBA Group adds that even if that engine enters service later this decade, matching the performance and reliability of Western engines will be a multi-year process. That’s the real measure of the program: the plane is already flying more regularly, but its industrial maturity is still being built.

Images | Comac

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