COMAC's CE-25A electric aircraft completes first crewed flight with two pilots and an engineer
COMAC's 10-ton-class CE-25A electric aircraft, designed for 19 passengers, flew with a crew in Shandong Province; its type certification application has been accepted.
China's state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has completed the first crewed flight of its CE-25A electric aircraft, a 10-ton-class design intended for short intercity routes, according to bolnews.com. bolnews.com
bolnews.combolnews.comOpen source ↗ The aircraft carried two pilots and a flight test engineer during the flight in Shandong Province. The company said all systems operated normally and performance indicators met expectations.
Flight history and certification
The CE-25A completed its first autonomous unmanned flight on Feb. 2 and has since undergone 19 autonomous flight tests, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The latest flight introduced a human crew to assess the aircraft's performance under crewed operating conditions. The aircraft is jointly developed by COMAC, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
The aircraft is now moving toward the regulatory certification process. China's Civil Aviation Administration has accepted its application for type certification, though that does not mean the aircraft has received approval to enter commercial service.
Stated specifications
The CE-25A has a maximum takeoff weight of approximately 10,000 kilograms and is designed to carry up to 19 passengers using an electric propulsion system. bolnews.com
bolnews.combolnews.comOpen source ↗ Its reported cruising speed is 300 kph, with a cruising altitude of about 2,400 meters.
The aircraft has a stated range of around 400 kilometers, which places it in the category of short-distance regional transportation rather than conventional long-haul commercial aviation, Chinese media reported. Its configuration is intended to support intercity connections, potentially serving routes where smaller passenger aircraft can provide an alternative to longer ground journeys. COMAC has not disclosed details about the aircraft's battery capacity, electric motor configuration, charging requirements or energy consumption.
