Is COMAC A Threat To Airbus & Boeing?

COMAC isn’t a planemaker simply waiting in the shadows. The Chinese manufacturer has secured firm orders and is now delivering many aircraft, even though it struggles in the West.

Now that the C919 is pitched as the answer to the 737 MAX and A320neo, the Chinese plane maker continues to try to provide a solution to the need for next-generation jets that are sold out through to the next decade.

However, China’s state-backed manufacturer faces its challenges, and now the question remains whether it’ll have enough to be considered more than just a spoiler for the Chinese domestic scene, and thus a visible third manufacturer on the global stage.

Where COMAC Sits In The Mid-2020s

Over the years, even amid supply chain disruptions, COMAC has been able to strengthen its position in the industry, or at the very least, the most visible angle of its home country, China, through jet orders and deliveries.

By the end of 2025, deliveries of the rebranded C909 and the C919 had been progressing; however, most were going to Chinese operators rather than the global scope the manufacturer had hoped for.

Currently, deliveries are well short of the ambitions laid out, with 2025’s performance well below the planemaker’s targets, with C919 deliveries barely scraping above double digits.

With the C919 pitched as a competitor to the A320neo and 737 MAX, it needs support from markets outside China to really make a lasting impression. The overwhelming support has come from lessors,m and airlines like Air China, China Eastern and China Southern.

These airlines will account for the C919 deliveries expected this year and beyond, unless something changes, such as the touted EASA certification that has been in the works and that the planemaker has been pressuring to see meaningful progress on.

Even with support from Chinese airlines, the 2026 C919 deliveries, expected to exceed 30 units, remain a fraction of those from Airbus and Boeing. While the scope is different, the focus is on analysts when assessing the long-lasting impact COMAC will have.

The Constraints Against Airbus and Boeing

On every operational metric that matters, COMAC is lagging heavily behind Airbus and Boeing. The lag is expected, as the Chinese planemaker is still maturing; however, it faces many constraints that worry industry insiders.

Production is one of the first concerns; the low 2025 delivery figures followed initial expectations that 75 C919 jets would be shipped; however, that figure was cut on multiple occasions. The business is struggling with supply chain issues and industry-related constraints.

Certification is the next pillar. Where China has political tensions with the likes of Airbus and Boeing, the two planemakers at the very least have their planes flying and certified for operation in China. As a result, this makes delivery and purchases easy from a certification standpoint.

However, the C919, while certified by the CAAC, has not received such validation from the EASA or the Federal Aviation Administration, which means COMAC cannot deploy the jet to Western Airlines and into most other regulated markets.

Despite support from officials in China, the aircraft remains a concern, and even if it obtained such certification, there are fears this would not be enough for Western airlines to take on the significant risks and purchase the planes being offered.

For many, the COMAC programme’s maturity is another angle. At the same time, it is a new manufacturer relative to its counterparts. Some of the jets, especially the C909, have been in service for a decade but are still seen as less competitive than other aircraft from an economic and support standpoint.

The C919 faces something very similar, with only a few years in service and all within tight restrictions; the scope for airlines to assess, even without certification, is minimal. While several airlines, such as Ryanair, have been offered the jet, regulators and industry insiders have consistently looked the other way and chosen the safer options.

Do Airbus & Boeing Take COMAC Seriously?

Despite the constraints and analysts’ skepticism about COMAC and its fight to compete with Airbus and Boeing, the two leading planemakers are not dismissive of what the Chinese planemaker is attempting to achieve.

On several occasions, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury has explicitly confirmed that the industry will always have the chance to evolve from a duopoly to a triopoly. That comes as current planemakers struggle to meet demand, and the need for aircraft will only increase over time.

COMAC is therefore something Airbus is taking seriously, noting that every company has to start somewhere and that every company brings doubts and concerns it must overcome on its path to success. While for COMAC, this doesn’t mean it’ll have the lasting impact it wants, there is a good reason Western planemakers need to be wary.

Even if COMAC isn’t able to make a splash in Western markets, China is attractive for Airbus and Boeing to try to secure contracts for hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of planes required in the coming decades to support renewal and growth.

These thousands of planes are now going to see COMAC try to take a significant slice of market share, and it’ll be Airbus and Boeing’s job to counter the Chinese planemaker to avoid losing out, even if this is an uphill battle.

On the Western side of things, there are still problems, even away from certification. However, with the pressure firmly on Airbus and Boeing to meet delivery deadlines and consistently failing to do so, alongside no delivery slots through the 2030s, there’s a chance for something else to emerge.

At the very least, the domestic scene in China is reason enough for Airbus and Boeing to feel immediately threatened by COMAC. What the Chinese planemakers’ impact on the West will be remains to be seen, but it would be silly for the pair to ignore their progress and ambition.