Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China won an order for 20 C919 aircraft from Sichuan Airlines, its second contract for the plane this week.

The deal increases the backlog for the single-aisle plane to 165, Shanghai-based COMAC said in an e-mailed statement today. The planemaker announced an order for 45 C919s from Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.'s leasing arm on Oct. 19.

The agreements end an almost yearlong order drought for state-backed COMAC, which is trying to compete with Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS's bestselling models. China will need as many as 5,000 new aircraft through 2030, of which 71 percent will be narrow-body planes, Boeing said last month.

Existing customers for C919 include General Electric Co.'s leasing arm and China's three major airlines, Air China Ltd., China Southern Airlines Co. and China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest discount airline, said in June that it's exploring a requirement for at least 200 single- aisle jets with COMAC.

The planemaker expects the C919 to make its first flight in 2014 and to enter commercial service two years later.

The company is working with overseas suppliers on the aircraft. CFM International Inc., a GE-Safran SA venture, is set to supply the engines, while Honeywell International Inc., United Technologies Corp. and Parker Hannifin Corp. have agreed to provide other components.