China’s domestic plane makes its maiden flight

China’s domestically produced passenger plane “C919” made its first passenger flight between Shanghai and Beijing.

According to Xinhua news, the C919 type aircraft belonging to China Eastern Airlines, with 128 passengers, took off in the morning from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport after a 2-hour flight.

Flight “MU 9191” was the first commercial flight of China’s domestically produced C919 medium-haul airliner.

The single-aisle narrow-body aircraft developed by the state-owned China Commercial Aircraft Company (COMAC) was designed as the equivalent of the “Boeing 737” and “Airbus 320” airliner models.

The model made its first test flight on May 14, 2022; He obtained his airworthiness license on September 30, 2022 and his production license on November 30, 2022.

China Eastern has reached an agreement with COMAC to purchase the aircraft for $99 million each, with the deal signed in March 2021, the first delivery of the “C919” was made on December 9, 2022.

The airline plans to use the plane on domestic flights from Shanghai to the cities of Beijing, Guangcou, Xinjiang and Qingdu.

With the launch of the “medium-haul” airliner, which is the most widely used type of aircraft in the world’s civil aviation sector, it is judged that China may have a share in the global passenger aircraft market dominated by US Boeing and European Airbus companies.

Although the C919, which began to be developed by COMAC in 2008, aims to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign sources, it is not entirely domestic, as critical components such as the jet engine and control software are produced by companies Americans like General Electric. and Honeywell. (AA)