China’s first self-produced passenger plane made its maiden voyage on Sunday with 130 passengers on board. The authorities call it a milestone in Chinese aviation.
The C919 aircraft type is developed and built by the state-owned Chinese aircraft manufacturer Comac. Development started in 2008, and three years later the aircraft was put into production. The first test flight took place in 2017, and since then Comac has been working on getting Chinese and international approval in place.
China Eastern Airlines has so far ordered five aircraft of the type and received the first in December. On Sunday, the aircraft type was put into commercial traffic for the first time.
The maiden flight took place between Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Beijing, where the plane landed 40 minutes early.
– In the future, the vast majority of passengers will be able to choose to fly with large aircraft, manufactured in China, reported the state broadcaster CCTV.
Chinese authorities hope the C919 will break the monopoly of European Airbus and American Boeing, and that the new aircraft will become a strong competitor to their A320 and 737 models.
The C919 has room for 164 passengers. Although the aircraft is developed and built in China, it largely consists of Western parts. The engines and control systems come from companies such as GE, Safran and Honeywell International.
2023-05-28 06:45:00
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