A C919 jet takes part in a flying display at the 14th Airshow China in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province, on November 9, 2022. The C919 has received 300 new orders during the airshow. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

The producer of China's passenger aircraft C919 said on Tuesday that the plane has won the production certificate (PC) from the regulator, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), a milestone toward the mass production of the aircraft.

Obtaining the PC is an important milestone for the C919 large passenger aircraft from the design and development stage to the mass production stage, marking a solid step toward the commercialization of the aircraft, producer Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) said on its official WeChat account. 

A PC is a certificate issued by an airworthiness authority to an aircraft manufacturer that allows continued production of the aircraft under an approved quality control system. The PC shows the level of production organization and control, quality management and comprehensive management of an aviation manufacturing enterprise, according to COMAC.

The CAAC East China Regional Administration accepted the PC application for the C919 aircraft submitted by COMAC on April 1, 2019 and started a review process in July 2019.

The C919 gained the type certificate (TC) from the CAAC at the end of September, with the first aircraft expected to be delivered by the end of 2022, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Winning the TC indicates that the C919's design meets airworthiness standards and environmental requirements, and it also marks a milestone in China's ability to conduct airworthiness certification of large airliners in line with internationally accepted standards.

The C919 is fitted with 158-168 seats and has a range of 4,075-5,555 kilometers, the same capacity as the popular Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 planes.

In November, seven leasing companies signed orders to buy 300 new C919 planes and 30 ARJ21 aircraft with COMAC at the Airshow China 2022 in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province.

The production capacity of the C919 is closely related to the market demand of the airlines, so "we will make production plans after full communication with the airlines", said Yang Yang, deputy general manager of marketing of COMAC, according to thepaper.cn on November 8.

The C919 earlier had 28 customers with orders totaling 815 planes.

There are three certificates required for the delivery of an aircraft in China. One is a TC, which indicates that the model design of the aircraft meets requirements. The second is a PC, which indicates that the manufacturing of the aircraft meets national standards, and the third is an aircraft certificate, which means the aircraft is safe to fly.

Global Times