China has achieved another major breakthrough in a cross-era "overtake on the curve" project. According to Xinhua News Agency, the CE-25A, a 10-ton electric commercial aircraft independently developed by China, completed its first manned intelligent flight on November 14 in Binzhou, Shandong Province. The flight carried two pilots and one test flight engineer, with the aircraft operating normally. This marks a significant step forward in the development of the CE-25A, following its autonomous intelligent maiden flight on February 2 of this year.
The CE-25A is the first electric commercial aircraft developed by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), designed for regional commercial operations. It can accommodate up to 19 passengers, has a maximum takeoff weight of 10 tons, a cruising speed of 300 kilometers per hour, a cruising altitude of 2,400 meters, and a range of 400 kilometers.
However, the CE-25A does not simply replace fuel engines with batteries. Instead, it adopts a more ambitious approach: distributed electric ducted propulsion integrated into the wings. Each wing houses five electric ducted fans, totaling ten, seamlessly integrated into the wing structure. In conventional twin-engine aircraft, failure of one engine requires pilots to counteract substantial yawing moments. In contrast, the CE-25A loses only about 10% of its thrust if one or two fans fail—flight control systems can rebalance power within milliseconds. Additionally, the fans are enclosed within ducts, resulting in significantly lower noise levels than turboprop aircraft, theoretically enabling operations at general aviation airports near urban centers.
The strategic significance of the CE-25A lies not in its immediate ability to replace fossil-fuel-powered aircraft, but in China’s effort to seize leadership in setting standards for electric aviation. For decades, Boeing and Airbus have dominated the regulatory landscape, making it difficult for China to break through on that established track. Electrification offers China a chance to change course: by leveraging its mature industrial base to capture the regional commuter market—a segment often overlooked—China may eventually redefine the rules when battery technology advances further, extending range from 400 km to 800 km and increasing capacity from 19 to 50 seats.
This means that the 400-kilometer range is not an endpoint, but a starting signal. What truly unsettles competitors is not how far this aircraft can fly, but the fact that China has replicated the industrial strategy behind its new energy vehicle success onto the skies.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1881819850925068/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.