China’s home-grown C919 alights in Shanghai on first regular route from Beijing
- The C919, a passenger jet touted as China’s answer to Boeing and Airbus, has landed in Shanghai on the first flight of a regular route from Beijing
- Expansion shows country’s determination to incorporate the plane into more flight plans, widen range of destinations
China’s home-grown C919 passenger plane has been flown on the country’s busiest route connecting capital Beijing with the economic hub of Shanghai, a statement voyage for efforts to challenge the dominance of Western giants Boeing and Airbus.
On Tuesday, a C919 took off from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and landed at Beijing Daxing International Airport, according to operator China Eastern Airlines.
The aircraft is expected to return to Shanghai in the evening. The flight will be a regular route, available for the next two weeks.
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A look inside China’s home-grown civilian passenger jets, the ARJ21 and C919
The C919 is a narrowbody airliner developed domestically by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac). It is designed to carry 140 to 210 passengers and competes with Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’ A320.
The jet had completed 655 commercial flights and carried nearly 82,000 passengers by the end of last year, according to the airline.
Despite Comac’s 14 years of development for the C919, the jet still uses several Western components for key functionalities, including engines and avionics systems.
