CAAC: China's C919 passenger aircraft to seek international certification

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Thursday that it will promote the country's domestically built C919 commercial aircraft to acquire certification from international organizations, including the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). 

The CAAC made the announcement at its annual working conference in Beijing, adding that it would continue to work on boosting the recognition of the Chinese aircraft in the international market.

On January 1, 2024, China Eastern Airlines received its fourth C919 aircraft. The C919 jet successfully completed its first commercial flight in May 2023. As of December 31, China Eastern Airlines' C919 fleet had operated 655 commercial flights, carrying close to 82,000 passengers.

China's other domestically made aircraft have also made a number of notable breakthroughs. For example, the regional ARJ21 aircraft has achieved large-scale operation. The model carried more than 10 million passengers as of last year.

Song Zhihong, head of the CAAC, said at the conference that the number of international flights arriving in China has continued to recover. 

He added that the number of international flights to and from China each week now stands at 4,600, up from less than 500 at the beginning of 2023.

Song also said that the number of direct flights between China and the United States has recovered to 63 per week, while the number of flights between China and European countries has returned to about 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels. As for its work in the next stage, the CAAC said it would continue to promote direct flights between China and the United States.

In 2023, the CAAC signed a memorandum of understanding with the civil aviation departments of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan to jointly build the "Air Silk Road." Work is also being done to upgrade the China-U.S. Aviation Cooperation Program (ACP) and the China-Europe Aviation Cooperation Program (APP). A number of documents related to China-Switzerland aviation safety and airworthiness cooperation have also been signed.

At the meeting, the CAAC reported that China's civil aviation sector handled 62 million passenger trips in 2023, which accounted for about 93.9 percent of the volume in 2019. The sector is expected to handle 69 million passenger trips in 2024, and it hopes the number of international flights to and from China will reach 6,000 a week by the end of 2024, around 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels.