The Rise of Comac: How the C909 Regional Jet is Shaping the Future of Aviation
Chinese planemaker Comac is steadily making its mark against aviation heavyweights Boeing and Airbus, with its regional jet program gaining traction and reaching international markets.
The Comac C909, the company’s inaugural jet, is tailored for regional flights, with a capacity of 78 to 90 seats—smaller than any jet currently offered by Airbus or Boeing, positioning it as a more direct competitor to Brazil’s Embraer. While it may not grab as much global attention as Comac’s larger C919—designed to take on the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320—the C909 is still a crucial part of China’s aspirations to become a significant player in the aircraft manufacturing arena.
This past Saturday marked nine years since the C909’s first flight. To celebrate, China’s state news agency Xinhua interviewed the jet’s chief designer, Chen Yong, who hailed it as “a pioneer in my country’s commercial aircraft field” and described it as a breakthrough, being China’s first commercial aircraft.
On Tuesday, another significant milestone was reached when flag carrier Air China launched its inaugural international service with the C909. The jet received a water-cannon salute upon landing in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, after a 90-minute journey from Hohhot in northern China. “We look forward to it continuing to write the pride of domestic aircraft in the future,” the airline shared on Weibo.
These recent developments follow other international deployments of the C909. In April, Lao Airlines, the national carrier of Laos, began operating two C909s leased from Comac. Later that month, Vietnam’s VietJet launched daily flights with two C909s leased from Chengdu Airlines, connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the nearby Con Dao archipelago.
These are encouraging signs for Comac’s regional jet, which was rebranded from the ARJ21 last November as part of a broader strategy to unify its branding and signal its growing ambitions. Despite these advances, the program is still relatively small-scale: Chen noted that only 166 C909s have been delivered so far.
The C909’s design also shows clear lineage from the McDonnell Douglas MD-80, reflecting Comac’s early international partnerships while setting the stage for its future in the aviation industry.