China's home-grown C919 aircraft to start deliveries in 2022: Official

Deliveries of China's home-grown narrow-body C919 aircraft, which is yet to be certified by the country's aviation regulator, are expected to start in 2022, local media cited an official with the state planemaker COMAC as saying on Wednesday. Wu Yongliang, deputy general manager of COMAC, made the comments on the sidelines of an annual meeting of the political advisory body for Shanghai city, where COMAC is based, according to the government-backed media outlet The Paper. The C919 aircraft, China's ambition to rival Aibus and Boeing, earlier missed a previously stated target of achieving certification by the end of 2021, with the Civil Aviation Administration of China saying the programme only completed 34 certification tests out of 276 planned. When asked about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the C919 programme, Wu said the impact was manageable and relevant work was being carried out in an orderly manner, according to The Paper.<br/>