Air China orders homegrown C919s in challenge to jet duopoly

Air China announced plans to buy 100 Comac C919 airliners, a major boost to the home-grown planemaker seeking to disrupt the commercial aircraft duopoly locked down by Airbus SE and Boeing Co. 

The agreement has a value of $10.8 billion, based on the list price for the C919. Deliveries will start this year and run through 2031, Air China said in a filing. The Beijing-based airline, one of China’s three biggest carriers, had previously already ordered a handful of C919s.

The move highlights how China is muscling into the lucrative market for larger commercial airliners, which for decades has been evenly shared by Airbus and Boeing. While the C919, which is similar in size to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family of jets, isn’t yet certified to fly passengers outside of China, industry experts expect the model to grab market share in the next decade, particularly as Airbus and Boeing are sold out for years on their most popular models. 

Air China currently has a fleet of almost 500 airplanes, including 212 A320-family and 127 737 series, according to data from tracker Planespotters.net. Airbus has been particularly successful with its A320 in Asia’s biggest economy, helped by the fact that it has a final assembly line in the country. China typically orders planes in large quantities, often during state visits, and then distributes them among the national carriers. 

Boeing’s position in China has been difficult in recent years. Deliveries of the 737 were suspended in the wake of two deadly crashes involving the model in 2018 and 2019, and only resumed earlier in 2024. Political tensions between Beijing and Washington have also complicated orders for the US company. And the crisis of confidence in the wake of a near-catastrophic accident in January has further absorbed Boeing’s attention, forcing the company to significantly slow down output of its most important jet.

Airbus and Boeing dominate the market for large commercial airliners, with companies like Brazil’s Embraer SA playing only an subordinate role in the field of smaller and regional jets. Airbus alone has a backlog of more than 8,000 aircraft, meaning it’s sold out for several years even as it works to ramp up output.

Such extensive wait lists and the production issues bedeviling Boeing have given rise to the question if and when an interloper might emerge to shake up the market. 

But while each order for Comac at home may translate into one less deal for Airbus and Boeing, the plane’s global success is far from assured. Airlines are notoriously reluctant to mix up their fleets with too many manufacturers, preferring a larger degree of commonality that is easier to operate in terms of maintenance and crew training.

Air China’s deal follows an order for 100 C919s from China Eastern Airlines Corp. in September of last year. Comac, as Commercial Aircraft Corp of China is more commonly known, made its first commercial flight in a year ago, also operated by China Eastern. The order by Air China on Friday comes on the same day as privately-owned Suparna Airlines said it plans to replace its all-Boeing fleet with the C919. 

The C919 seats a maximum of 192 people, and the aircraft has already received more than 1,000 orders from Chinese carriers and lessors. The plane is built in part with the same technology that can be found on an A320 or the 737, including the engines, which are are currently supplied by CFM International. Honeywell International Inc. produces the cockpit systems, and the plane is flown using the same side joystick that can be found on modern Airbus aircraft.