China’s first domestically developed fixed-wing electric commercial aircraft, the CE-25A, completed its first piloted test flight on November 14, 2026.
The aircraft took off and landed in Binzhou, in Shandong province, southeast of Beijing, with two pilots and a flight test engineer on board. It spent 16 minutes and 38 seconds in the air and covered 37.5 miles (60.4 kilometers). The entire test, including ground operations, lasted 57 minutes and 46 seconds.
Chinese news agency China News Service has posted a video of the test flight online.
Developed by state-owned aerospace manufacturer COMAC, the CE-25A has a maximum takeoff weight of 10 metric tons and is designed to carry up to 19 passengers plus crew. It is powered by 10 electric ducted fans, mounted five-abreast on each wing. COMAC expects it to have a range of around 250 miles (400 kilometers) and a cruise speed of 186 mph (300 km/h).
COMAC unveiled the CE-25A concept in 2023, but the first public images of a full-size aircraft only emerged in October 2026, triggering speculation about the program’s status.
According to Chinese state media, the aircraft had in fact been flying for months, with 19 unmanned flights completed since February 2, 2026.
Chinese battery giant CATL is COMAC’s main industrial partner in the project, alongside Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
The battery maker, which already has a strong lead in the global electric vehicle market, is also making inroads into aviation. CATL is a strategic investor in Chinese eVTOL developer AutoFlight and, at the 2023 Shanghai auto show, unveiled a battery with a cell-level energy density of up to 500 Wh/kg, which it said it was qualifying for aviation use (worth noting that COMAC has not disclosed which battery powers the CE-25A).
Given China’s track record in rapidly electrifying its car industry, Chinese firms can be expected to try to replicate that success in aerospace, potentially leapfrogging Western competitors in some market segments.
So far, only a handful of all-electric fixed-wing aircraft have completed flight tests. The closest to the CE-25A in size is Heart Aerospace’s X1 all-electric demonstrator, which made its maiden flight in August 2026. The X1, however, is a testbank for what will, eventually, become a larger hybrid-electric airliner.
COMAC has reportedly already filed a type certificate application for the CE-25A with the he Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).