EU tests of China’s C919 speed up as pilots stay in Shanghai ‘permanently’: sources

China’s aviation authorities have mobilised a range of resources to support European certification of the C919, the home-grown airliner aiming to take on Boeing and Airbus, with steady progress made in recent months, multiple sources said.

Technicians and pilots from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have set up shop in Shanghai for more checks and in-flight tests in recent months, according to a source who took part in some technological exchanges with the agency.

“They now stay in Shanghai, like almost permanently, for tests and flights,” the source said.

It is understood that the European watchdog is requiring more test flights to prove the C919’s safety. Such flights mark the third phase of a four-stage certification process.

The source said the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) had been rallying support from airlines, including their top pilots, to aid the certification push.

A second source with knowledge of ongoing arrangements said Comac and Chinese airlines operating the C919 were providing past and real-time data to EASA. China Eastern Airlines had also shared repair and maintenance data, they said, including those accumulated from periodical A and B checks on the first batch of C919s that joined its fleet in 2023. A and B checks are standardised, scheduled inspections of an aircraft’s safety performance.