With Ethiopian’s help, Nigeria Air would evaluate Chinese COMAC C919 to equip its fleet

The COMAC C919 got its type certificate just a few days ago, but there are already interested parties interested in at least evaluating it: Nigeria Air, the airline that recently obtained the financial and operational endorsement of Ethiopian Airlines, does not rule out the C919 in its fleet expansion plans.

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«We have not examined the C919. But if it is as good as the rest, why not,» Hadi Sirika told Reuters on the sidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annual Assembly in Montreal, Canada, as reported by Air Journal.

«China and Nigeria have a very warm and friendly, mutually beneficial relationship,» the minister added. Chinese influence in Nigeria – and several African countries – was built up over decades, cemented by billions of dollars in financial assistance.

There is no shortage of obstacles for the C919 to fulfill an eventual order from Nigeria Air: with 815 orders in the backlog – almost all from Chinese companies, except for a GECAS order for 10 aircraft that it placed in 2010 and absolutely no one expects to ever materialize – it will be difficult for an order from Africa to be fulfilled in the near future, unless a political or commercially relevant issue overrides the already established order.

Moreover, COMAC’s expected production rate of close to 150 aircraft per year by 2025-when it planned to deliver the first series in 2021-requires a learning curve that makes it unrealistic in three years. Scott Hamilton, of Leeham News and Analysis, anticipated then that it could reach that number of aircraft only in 2031.

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Another issue to be resolved is certification: the NCAA (Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority) will have to evaluate the C919 and its parts to grant the type certificate that will allow it to operate under its area of interest.

Discounting the assistance of China, the state of design and manufacture, there will remain Western parts and systems that will have to be validated by their manufacturers, who will not be too eager to assist the CAAC in opening markets for the Chinese aircraft to compete with Boeing and Airbus, even though such competition – 14 years after its launch – is limited and has a great risk of being buried in obsolescence.