The Chinese-made C919 narrow-wheel passenger carrier appears to have been licensed to fly, although there has been no official confirmation - SCMP reported.
After 14 years of development, the C919 single-track aircraft, produced by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), appears to have been type certified by the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) at a ceremony in Beijing.
The type certificate is issued to express the flight capability of the approved design or the "type" of the aircraft being manufactured.
On September 29, a photo appeared on social media with a sign "C919 aircraft certification ceremony" in Chinese and a screenshot of the certificate issued by CAAC to Comac.
Neither CAAC nor Comac have yet made any statement confirming whether the rocket has been officially approved for commercial operation.
Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines is expected to be the first to operate the C919. The company ordered four in May at a cost of $99 million each.
The C919 development project began in 2008 to compete with Boeing's 737 and Airbus's A320.
Andrew Charlton - CEO of Aviation Advocacy Consulting Company - said that although Chinese transport companies may start using the C919, the delays and decline in the Chinese market are not in the interest of bringing new passenger aircraft to operation quickly.
Charlton said it would take time to overcome that, and therefore the road to the C919's competitiveness was not short and not flat.
Although advertised as domestic passenger aircraft, most of the parts are imported from foreign manufacturers, including engines, aviation electronic systems, control systems, communications and landing gear.
Nearly two years ago, a Washington-based consulting firm gave a harsh assessment of the C919, saying its chance of success was almost zero.
