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European aviation regulators have reportedly begun testing on Chinese state-owned planemaker Comac’s C919 passenger jet as it seeks approval to operate outside China.
According to reporting in the South China Morning Post, two test pilots from EASA, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, have conducted verification flights of the narrow-body jet in Shanghai. Comac is looking to position the C919 as a competitor to the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX.
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The C919, which took its maiden flight in 2017, has operated with Chinese domestic airlines since May 2023, with China Eastern Airlines as the launch customer. It flew outside mainland China for the first time in 2024 on a Hong Kong charter flight.
The test flights are part of compliance demonstration – the third stage of EASA’s four-stage assessment process – and examine how the aircraft reacts in situations such as stalls, poor weather, and extreme manoeuvres.
A source told the SCMP that European authorities dubbed the plane “good and safe”, aside from some “teething problems that required tweaks”.
The seal of approval from EASA would be vital for Comac’s ambitions to sell the C919 globally, with airlines and lessors outside of China indicating they would not consider it unless certified by major regulators like EASA or the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). No Australian airline has thus far expressed interest.
EASA executive director Florian Guillermet last year indicated that the C919 would likely not be certified before 2028 and would take “three to six years”.
“Comac is putting a lot of resources, determination and technical means into this certification,” he told French magazine L’Usine Nouvelle in April 2025. “I have no doubt the company will succeed.”
The C919, which has a capacity of up to 190 seats, is currently flying with Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern, and has flown more than four million passengers in its first year and a half of operation, according to the SCMP.
Comac’s only other aircraft currently in commercial operation is the C909 regional jet (formerly the ARJ21), which seats up to 105 passengers and has been flown by several airlines outside of China, including TransNusa, Vietjet, and Lao Airlines.
The manufacturer is also looking to launch a wide-body C929 jet by 2030 to compete with the A330neo and 787 Dreamliner families.
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