COMAC is planning to produce 150 aircraft per year in the next five years, according to Zhang Yujin, Deputy General Manager of COMAC, Reuters reports. The first COMAC C919 was delivered to China Eastern late last year and a number of deliveries will follow over the next few years.
With an order book of 1,200 aircraft, almost exclusively by Chinese carriers and some foreign lessors, it would take roughly eight years to deliver all planes at this pace. COMAC will be closely looking at customer feedback as it sets out to build an entire production line to support the C919.
"The first orders are from China Eastern Airlines, and at present a number of carriers are vying for our orders," Zhang added while stressing that currently the interest around C919 is very high in the market.
China Eastern plans to begin flights with C919 starting Spring 2023.