China's First Indigenous Passenger Jet COMAC C919 Takes Maiden Commercial Flight

China's first indigenously built passenger aircraft C919 on Sunday took off on its first commercial flight, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market as part of the country's effort to compete with Western rivals like Boeing and Airbus.

The first commercial flight of C919 from Shanghai to Beijing is carried out by state-run China Eastern Airlines. The plane carried 160 passengers on board. The flight time between Shanghai and Beijing was about two hours and twenty-five minutes.

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The C919 is developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), and it was granted a type certificate by the Civil Aviation Administration of China last September. The plane conducted a successful maiden flight in 2017.

First COMAC #C919 commercial flight, China Eastern MU9191, took off from Shanghai Hongqiao Intl Airport. pic.twitter.com/8au49e73ye — ChinaAviationReview (@ChinaAvReview) May 28, 2023

In the following years, the C919 conducted several test flights in different locations to test its capabilities. The C919 has gone through tests in various types of extreme natural environments, including high temperature, high humidity, severe cold, gusts, and freeze. The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that its safety, reliability, and environmental protection performance have been comprehensively assessed.

On December 9, 2022, the first C919 aircraft was delivered to its first customer, China Eastern Airlines. After the delivery, the report said that the C919 jetliner completed its 100-hour aircraft validation flight process, comprehensively verifying its reliability with commercial operation in mind.

The C919 had received 1,035 orders from 32 customers by the end of 2022, according to the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai. Officials say the entry of Chinese aircraft could reduce the reliance on Boeing and Airbus and could pose a competition to them in the international civil aviation market.