Mainland China’s home-grown C919 and ARJ21 civilian passenger aircraft to make inaugural flights to Hong Kong next week
- C919, ARJ21 expected to visit the city between December 12 and 17 will go on static display and conduct fly-by over Victoria Harbour
- ‘Developing these two types of aircraft is an important milestone for the country’s aerospace manufacturing industry,’ John Lee says
Mainland China’s home-grown civilian passenger aircraft will visit Hong Kong for the first time next week, the chief executive has revealed just days after the city welcomed a space programme delegation that included astronauts from across the border.
The ARJ21 and C919 jets visiting between December 12 and 17 will be on static display at Hong Kong International Airport, with the latter expected to perform a demonstration flight over Victoria Harbour.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday said that developing these two types of aircraft was an important milestone for the country’s aerospace manufacturing industry.
“I welcome the first visit by the C919 and the ARJ21, I also want to thank the country’s civil aviation administration and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) for their full support,” he said.
The COMAC-developed ARJ21 is the first turbofan regional aircraft completely designed and manufactured by the country. It entered commercial operation in 2016 and was brought into the international market in 2022, following the delivery of the aircraft to Indonesian airline TransNusa.
The C919 is China’s first domestically developed narrowbody passenger jet, which was designed to compete with Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 family of single-aisle aircraft. Both are aviation industry staples.
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The jet, also developed by COMAC, came into service in 2023 with China Eastern Airlines and completed its first commercial flight in May.
The C919 visit to Hong Kong is also the first outside the mainland, a step that Lee said reflected the country’s attention to developing the city’s aerospace industry and its status as an international aviation hub.
Victor Liu, director general of the city’s Civil Aviation Department, also revealed it had been taking part in the preliminary research and development of the C919 upon invitation from the Civil Aviation Administration of China since 2012.
“The [department] had been playing an active role in the C919 evaluation activities and a [department] flight operations expert was deployed to Shanghai for two months last year to take part in the C919 T5 test for flight crew training,” he said.
The visit to the city by the aircraft follows a four-day trip by a 17-strong delegation comprising several Chinese astronauts and members of the China Manned Space Agency.
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According to the government, the two passenger aircraft will get a water salute upon their arrival at the airport on December 12. They will then be placed in a designated area for a static display between December 13 and 15.
The C919 is also expected to fly over Victoria Harbour from west to east on December 16 depending on the weather.
It will also fly above Hong Kong Island twice for members of the public to take a look.
