Beijing showcases the Comac 919: now China's three largest airlines have copies of the A320 in their fleets

This, as is often the case in China, has more political value than anything else. But from the point of view of regime propaganda, the title fits: all three major Chinese airlines (Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines) now have at least one Chinese-made jet in their fleet, the Comac 919.

Which then, at least in the case of Air China and China Southern, at least one means one, although in both cases a second aircraft is expected soon. But what do you want an aircraft on the 660s (which make up China Southern's fleet) or the 496s (which make up Air China's fleet)? Nothing, or almost nothing, from an operational point of view. But the flag has been planted.

In China Eastern, however, there are a 'beauty' of 7 Comac 919s, with as many as 4 more scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks. The Shanghai-based company is the one that more than the others has so far considered the 919, and flying it is not an impossible feat (the Poodle has done it). But, again, it is still 7 out of 620 airplanes.

The 'boast of China' actually does not have much that is made in China. It certainly owes its design and overall layout to the Airbus A320, of which it also summarily takes up internal and external measures. Indeed, assembly of the aircraft takes place in China at the Shanghai Pudong plant, but these are components many of which (especially the essential ones) are produced abroad.

Thus, the American Rockwell Collins made the cabin systems and avionics, the French Thales the IFE, the American Honeywell the flight controls, the APU, the wheels and brakes, And so on. The slowness with which the Comac 919s come off the assembly line is also due to to the sanctions that on some hi-tech products the United States has imposed on Beijing.

Those and other geopolitical considerations. make it highly unlikely that the Comac 919 will gain a foothold in airline fleets of countries outside the Chinese sphere of influencese, which includes part of Southeast Asia, North Korea, some former USSR states, as well as Russia itself and some regions of Africa.

Of course, the plane could be part of larger trade exchanges with these countries. Or be sold, perhaps, at cheaper prices than Western commercial jets. Not least because, from a technological point of view, the design is a decade old now (with the first flight occurring in 2017) and the 919 is an aircraft from the first generation of the Airbus family, the so-called 'ceo' generation. While the European manufacturer has already turned over a new leaf a few years ago by putting the 'neo' on the market.

From the passenger's point of view, the nine Comac 919s that have entered service so far. have photocopy interiors (which is a bit Soviet-style): both Air China and its bigger sisters have it set up in 164 total seats of which 8 are in Business with rows in a 2-2 configuration and 156 Economy seats with the classic 3-3.

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