03:01
China’s C919 passenger jet completes maiden commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing
China’s C919 passenger jet completes first commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing
- Inaugural passenger flight is a milestone in China’s bid to challenge the Boeing-Airbus duopoly
- Symbolic MU9191 China Eastern flight also flags off a regular Shanghai-Chengdu service from Monday
China’s first domestically developed narrow-body passenger jet – the C919 – completed its first commercial flight on Sunday, a milestone in the country’s bid to challenge the Boeing-Airbus duopoly in aircraft production.
Bearing the symbolic number MU9191, the flight operated by China Eastern Airlines and carrying more than 130 passengers left Shanghai’s Hongqiao airport at around 10.30am – about 10 minutes ahead of schedule.
The flight was welcomed with a water salute as it landed at Beijing Capital Airport at 12.30pm, according to a live feed from state broadcaster CCTV.
The two-hour commercial flight comes after 14 years of development, and as China is seeking to reduce dependence on foreign technologies amid a bitter rivalry with the US-led West.
I had to be here to witness everything, so I signed up for today’s flight in February and got the opportunity to take the return flight
A 14-year-old student in Beijing told CCTV he was “thrilled” to be taking the return flight to Shanghai at around 2.50pm.
“This is the first large aircraft made by China and I know it’s meaningful, because my family is also involved in the aviation industry,” he said.
“I had to be here to witness everything, so I signed up for today’s flight in February and got the opportunity to take the return flight.”
There will also be a regular C919 service from Monday between Shanghai and Chengdu, capital of China’s southwestern province of Sichuan.
At a ceremony to launch the flight on Sunday, China Eastern general manager Li Yangmin said: “The safety, reliability and abilities needed to ensure [the plane’s] performance have all been fully proved.”
What is China’s C919 passenger jet and can it take on Airbus, Boeing?
Designed to compete with the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 family of single-aisle aircraft, the C919 has been hailed by state media as a demonstration of China’s technological abilities.
Airbus and Boeing offered their congratulations on the flight via social media.
Manufactured by state-owned Commercial Aviation Corporation of China (Comac), the 38.9-metre (about 127 feet) long and 11.95-metre high aircraft features eight business and 156 economy class seats, according to CCTV. Three pilots were to be on board and the plane was to cruise at a speed of 0.78 mach, or about 955km/h (593mph), it said earlier.
The special in-flight menu for the inaugural trip included claypot rice, mango pudding and chocolate shortbread, as well as White Rabbit Creamy Candy, a hallmark of Shanghai.
The C919 attracted nationwide attention after the announcement of the domestic aircraft development programme in 2007. However, progress was slow.
In 2014, President Xi Jinping visited the Comac office and called for “relentless” efforts to develop and manufacture large passenger aircraft, calling them “an important symbol of a country’s aviation level and an important sign of its overall strength”.
The C919 was unveiled to the public the next year and it completed its first test flight in 2017.
In September last year, the C919 was cleared by China’s aviation regulator to run commercial passenger operations, with a production certificate following two months later.
02:34
Why it took China’s home-grown C919 plane 15 years to start flying passengers
The airline said at the time that four more orders were expected to be delivered within two years.
All C919 jets would be used for domestic flights between major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, Xian, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, it said.
According to CCTV, Comac had received orders for 1,035 C919 jets from 32 customers by the end of last year.
At Sunday’s launch, Industry Minister Jin Zhuanglong said China faced “a daunting task” to develop its home-grown jet sector.
New aircraft often have bugs, so I am sure this aircraft will have its share of start-up bugs
David Yu, a professor of finance at New York University Shanghai and an aviation financing expert, said the production rate for the C919 was relatively “conservative”.
“[The production rate] is still quite small even for China’s market. They have just started to move the needle,” Yu said.
“Now, the key point is getting them in the air, operationally, without too much down time.
“New aircraft often have bugs, so I am sure this aircraft will have its share of start-up bugs. They need to get those things resolved quickly and also for the airline’s perspective, they can count on the aircraft because they have invested a lot.”
Additional reporting by Amanda Lee
