Summary
- COMAC is working on the C939, which is set to seat up to 400 passengers, positioning it against Airbus A350 and Boeing 777.
- The C939 is part of COMAC’s lineup, including the ARJ21 and C919, aiming to compete in the aircraft market.
- With plans for a twin-engine aircraft capable of intercontinental distances, COMAC aims to challenge the Airbus-Boeing duopoly in commercial aviation.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has begun work on its C939 widebody aircraft, which will be its largest aircraft to date. The aircraft will reportedly seat up to 400 passengers, firmly placing it as a competitor to the Airbus A350 and Boeing’s 777 program.
The biggest yet
COMAC’s upcoming C939 is the latest in a series of homegrown aircraft developed by the Chinese manufacturer. The current lineup includes the ‘Advanced Regional Jet’ ARJ21, which has carried over 10 million passengers since it entered service in 2016, and the narrowbody C919, which is now flying three routes for China Eastern Airways.
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The C939 will be positioned against Airbus and Boeing’s largest aircraft as COMAC looks to increase its share in the long-haul aircraft market. According to the South China Morning Post, COMAC has “sketched out preliminary designs” for the new plane with the aim of developing a prototype. In order to compete with the Airbus A350 and Boeing’s 777 lineup (including the 777X), the C939 would have to seat around 400 passengers and provide a range of 7,000 NM (13,000 kilometers).
Photo: Jonathan E. Hendry | Simple Flying
A second widebody plane, the C929, is also in development. Originally dubbed the CR929 when conceived as a joint project between Russia and China, the aircraft is set to compete with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A330neo in terms of range and capacity.
What do we know so far?
Details on the C939 remain scant. Simple Flying previously revealed that the aircraft will be a twin-engine aircraft with the capacity to seat around 390 passengers. The numbering follows the C919, which seats just over 190 passengers in its maximum capacity, and the C929, which will reportedly seat 290 passengers. Rumors of a larger C949 could not be reliably confirmed as of press time.
COMAC has been clear about positioning itself as a competitor to the Airbus-Boeing duopoly in large commercial aircraft. The C919, its first mainline aircraft, is being actively promoted to airlines in the region as an alternative to aircraft like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family of aircraft with recent overseas appearances at events such as the Singapore Airshow.
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However, the manufacturer’s current aircraft backlog far outweighs production capacity. The C919 has over 1,500 orders, with only five deliveries to date. COMAC predicted last year that it will produce 150 aircraft annually by 2028 and is reportedly working on an expanded production facility in Pudong, Shanghai.
Photo: Aerospace Trek | Shutterstock
In addition to the standard version, COMAC indicated that it will also produce shortened and extended versions of the C919 capable of accommodating 130 to 240 passengers.
Two widebody planes at once
COMAC will presumably continue the development of the C939 in conjunction with its existing C929 widebody program. The future of the C929 faced some uncertainty following Yury Slyusar, the CEO of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), confirming last year that the company would transition from being a joint venture partner in the CR929 program to a supplier.
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The program has already been delayed by nearly ten years.
However, sources close to the South China Morning Post confirmed the program was still in “full swing” and on schedule:
“Work [on the C929] is under way and progressing smoothly, utilising the same experience, support and system coordination we already have for the design and development of the C919 … The time needed can be similar.”
Photo: testing | Shutterstock
While no release date has been confirmed, it appears that the manufacturer is looking to scale up its design processes using data from its two projects to bring the C393 to the market in line with its overall objectives. Based on current projections provided by COMAC, it will still take over a decade to fill existing C919 orders, so a significant investment in production capacity will still be required to generate aircraft at a scale competitive with the output of Boeing and Airbus.