China’s COMAC Falls Behind on C919 Aircraft Delivery Targets

Chinese plane-maker COMAC is falling behind on its delivery targets for the C919 narrow-body jet, according to filings from the three airlines operating the model, Lisa Barrington and Sophie Yu reported for Reuters.

COMAC has quietly cut its 2025 production target to 25 aircraft from 75 earlier this year. (Photo: COMAC)

China Eastern Airlines, Air China, and China Southern had expected 32 planes to be delivered this year, but as of September only five had been handed over, according to airline filings and data from ch-aviation and Flightradar24.

Bloomberg reported that COMAC has quietly cut its 2025 production target to 25 aircraft from 75 earlier this year. COMAC did not respond to a request for comment.

The state-owned manufacturer had said in January it would deliver 30 planes this year and ramp up annual production to 50, before raising that to 75 in March.

The C919 is designed to compete internationally with Airbus’s A320neo and Boeing’s 737 MAX, both produced at dozens of units per month.

COMAC’s efforts suffered a setback this year when the U.S. temporarily halted exports of the CFM engines used in the C919 between June and July. A key vulnerability for China’s jet program is its reliance on foreign parts for critical systems.