China will deliver its first homegrown C919 large passenger plane by the end of 2022. The plane, developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), was granted a certificate of airworthiness by the country's aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, on Thursday. Its certification signifies that China has the ability to independently develop world-class large passenger aircraft, and marks an important milestone for the country's large aircraft industry.
American aerospace manufacturer Boeing and France-based Airbus have long been considered a duopoly in the commercial aircraft market, which is worth trillions of U.S. dollars.
The C919, as part of China's goal to develop homemade civil planes, is trying to compete with medium-range passenger planes from the two global giants, such as Airbus's A320 and Boeing's 737 MAX.