The long march

C919 first flight shows how far China’s aviation industry has come, and has yet to go

I hate to take the gloss off an important achievement but let’s not get too excited about the long-awaited maiden flight of China’s first commercial jet, set to enter the same market segment as Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’ A320.

Some did after the state-run Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) C919 took to the skies in May. America’s NBC network, for example, declared China’s first large “homegrown” airliner made its maiden flight “in a major challenge to Western dominance of the skies”. The official Xinhua News Agency said the flight meant China had become “one of the world’s top makers of jumbo aircraft”.