COMAC

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd., known as COMAC, was founded in Shanghai on May 11, 2008. COMAC says it is the main vehicle for China’s large passenger-aircraft programs and is responsible for overall planning of trunk-liner and regional-jet programs and the industrialization of civil aircraft. Its stated activities include civil-aircraft research, manufacturing, flight testing, marketing, servicing, leasing, and operations. [1]

COMAC operates through a network of specialist organizations that includes a design and research center, assembly-manufacturing center, customer-service center, flight-test company, supporting center, marketing and sales center, academy, finance companies, and overseas offices. This organization gives COMAC responsibilities across the aircraft life cycle, from design and production through certification support, delivery, and customer service. [1]

Its principal commercial programs are the C909 regional jet and the C919 trunk-liner aircraft. COMAC’s published product information gives the basic C909 a 78–97-seat layout and a range of 2,225–3,700 kilometers, while the basic C919 is listed at 158–192 seats and a range of 4,075–5,555 kilometers. COMAC also presents the C929 as a widebody program with a baseline layout of 282–440 seats. [2]

The C919 received its Chinese type certificate in 2022 and entered commercial service on May 28, 2023, on China Eastern Airlines’ Shanghai–Beijing route. In August 2024, Air China and China Southern received their first C919 aircraft, marking a move toward operation by multiple users; COMAC said nine C919 aircraft had been delivered at that point. [3] [4] [5]

COMAC’s international relevance is visible in the C909’s overseas operating relationships. Two C909 aircraft wet-leased by Chengdu Airlines to Vietjet Air began the Hanoi–Con Dao–Ho Chi Minh City route in April 2025; COMAC reported that TransNusa, Lao Airlines, and Vietjet Air had by then used C909 aircraft on 15 Southeast Asian routes carrying more than 250,000 passengers. Those arrangements connect COMAC’s manufacturing and support system with foreign airline operations without implying that the airlines are COMAC subsidiaries. [6]