Nigeria eyes certification of China’s C919 jet for local airlines

Nigeria’s civil aviation authority is looking into certifying China’s C919 jet for the country’s carriers, its director general told Reuters, as Nigerian airlines take on more aircraft and as relations warm with Beijing.
Chinese planemaker COMAC is producing the narrow-body C919 to compete with leading Western planemakers Airbus and Boeing, and has held several talks with Nigeria over the aircraft.
However, state-owned COMAC, which hopes to access the wider African market, faces challenges. Its two plane models lack benchmark certifications from Western regulators, and it is falling behind on delivery targets. The U.S. this year temporarily halted exports of the CFM engines it uses on the C919 due to trade conflicts. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with 230 million people, has potential as a growing aviation market. The civil aviation authority’s director general, Capt. Chris Ona Najomo, told Reuters the agency is considering the months-long certification process for the jet to operate on domestic routes, noting the absence of validation from Western regulators.