Comac Secures Orders For 60 C909 Regional Jets

Comac has announced the rebranding of the ARJ21 as the C909 at the Zhuhai Airshow, where it also added 60 firm orders to the regional jet’s backlog. 

Photos of the ARJ21 in C909 livery emerged in mid-October, about a month before China’s aviation showcase. The branding aligns the 90-seat jet with the C919 narrowbody and the in-development C929 widebody in Comac’s product family. 

Hainan Airlines announced in a stock exchange filing on Nov. 11 that it had placed an order for 40 C909s, spending $38 million on each jet. The aircraft will be operated by subsidiary Urumqi Air, which is based in Xinjiang province in northwest China. A framework agreement for an order was announced in April 2023. 

Comac has already begun establishing maintenance provision for the C909 in the region, opening the Xinjiang Customer Service Center in July. The OEM said the facility will support the adoption of 50 C909s in Xinjiang through 2027.

Urumqi Air will receive its first C909 in 2025, and deliveries will complete in 2032. 

Colorful Guizhou Airlines also signed a firm order for 20 C909s at Zhuhai. The LCC, based in southwest China, has also taken options for a further 10 examples of the regional jet.