US, July 21 -- Analysis: Is China's C919 the First Real Challenger to Airbus and Boeing? As COMAC launches its first scheduled international route, the global aviation duopoly may have its first credible long-term competitor. When Air China launches daily C919 service between Beijing and Ulaanbaatar on August 12, the flight will last only about two hours. Its implications, however, could last decades.

The inaugural international scheduled operation of China's COMAC C919 represents far more than another airline route. It is the first meaningful step in Beijing's long-term strategy to break one of the world's most durable industrial monopolies-the commercial aircraft dominance of Airbus and Boeing.

The question facing the aviation industr...