Fanfare as first C919 commercial flight leaves Hong Kong for Shanghai

The first commercial flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai by China’s home-grown C919 aircraft took off on Wednesday, with fans buying tickets to enjoy the experience. The single-aisle C919, manufactured by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), began operations between Hong Kong and Shanghai on New Year’s Day, marking the airliner’s first regular route outside mainland China. China Eastern Airlines flight MU722 landed at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport at 3pm, with passengers praising the comfort and amenities on board. Hong Kong entrepreneur Eric Huang Tiande, 64, chose the single-trip maiden flight because of his passion for the C919 and business. “I am an aviation enthusiast and I also have business cooperation with Comac manufacturing its souvenirs. I’m celebrating the maiden voyage in Hong Kong and Comac,” Huang said. He said his only issues were the overhead television screen, on which he could hit his head when he stood up, and the luggage compartment design that prevented suitcases from lying flat, resulting in reduced storage space. “Other than that, I feel very comfortable with more than enough legroom for me as a 1.74 metre-tall man. It’s not difficult for me to reach the power outlet with USB charging ports. And I love the in-flight entertainment,” Huang said, referring to the captive Wi-fi on board. Passengers can access the network with their mobile devices to watch hundreds of films and dramas, as well as play games and check tourist destinations in Shanghai. But they cannot browse websites or connect to instant messaging apps. Cabin crew members regularly walked by to ask if passengers needed anything. On the inaugural flight, the cabin crew prepared a special meal for travellers, including a carton of signature brand White Rabbit milk as a welcoming drink. The four-course meal included salad farfalle soybean shiitake tuna, spiced ginger chicken rice, a soft roll with butter and fruit. Post reporter Oscar Liu and photographer Nora Tam were among the passengers. Flight enthusiast Liu Ruibo, from Anhui province, planned his trip to count down to the new year in Hong Kong around the first C919 flight. The student, 16, arrived from Nanjing on a Cathay Pacific flight on New Year’s Eve and left Hong Kong on the inaugural C919 aircraft. “The C919, as a large aircraft produced in China, is a source of pride for our nation. As a flight enthusiast, I feel very honoured to be part of this significant milestone in the development of large Chinese aircraft,” he said. Some passengers who took the flight without knowing it was a C919 expressed excitement and said they expected China to bring good competition to Boeing and Airbus. Among them was Peter Garrett, 38, a Chicago-based investment banker who arrived in Hong Kong before transiting to Shanghai to reunite with his wife and her family, said he had no concerns about the aircraft. “I expect it will run just like any other flight should run. Just a top-notch plane, good crew and good pilots. So I do not expect China to be any different,” Garrett said. “By having more competition in the marketplace, it tends to bring a benefit to people who are buying those services with a lower price.” Pedro Jabur, 48, a Brazilian professor travelling with his wife to Shanghai after staying in Hong Kong for five days, did not know he was taking a Chinese-made aircraft. “I cannot tell any difference between this aircraft and the others. It’s a good thing that the C919 can bring Chinese innovation and technological advancement through Hong Kong and let the world know before going international,” said Jabur, who will also head to Xian and Beijing later. A round-trip economy-class ticket was priced on Sunday at HK$2,850 (US$367), with HK$567 tax. The C919 carries political significance as it is considered Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet project since he assumed the presidency in 2012. He has repeatedly stressed the significance of China independently developing and manufacturing large aircraft. Lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu, who sits on the Legislative Council’s transport affairs panel, said Hong Kong served as a highly significant platform to showcase the achievement due to the city’s globally recognised aviation regulations. “The Shanghai to Hong Kong route sees a high volume of business and upscale travellers, with early morning operations catering particularly to business clientele, emphasising the route’s strong showcase value,” Zhang said. He added the regular flights between the two cities could help to provide Comac with valuable data. “The route between Hong Kong and Shanghai is considered an international route though within the same country, providing valuable records and data for potential expansion into other global markets,” he said. Zhang urged authorities to allocate space to Comac to set up maintenance facilities in the city, leveraging the airport’s third-runway system to enhance the appeal of the C919 and position Hong Kong as a prime hub for showcasing aviation services. Guangzhou-based aviation consultant Li Hanming said the Shanghai-Hong Kong service would offer a consistent platform for potential customers to assess the C919’s performance, while helping to build Hong Kong into an engineering hub. “China is encouraging and letting more enterprises demonstrate their newest technology and the business in Hong Kong,” Li said. “The C919 is a systematic engineering product that involves thousands of suppliers in various and diverse industries, including mechanical, electric and electronic, aerodynamic and so on. It provides more choices and career opportunities for newly graduated and experienced, local and immigrated, Chinese and foreign talent.” In November, Polytechnic University and Comac formed an institute to bolster the large aircraft industry by leveraging the school’s academic expertise and the city’s technological resources. During a visit to Shanghai in 2014, Xi inspected a C919 prototype at the Comac research and development centre. He stressed the need to shift away from the thinking of “favouring buying over building and leasing over buying”, noting China, being the largest aircraft market, should increase investment in researching, developing and producing its “own large aircraft to establish independent capabilities”. Comac was formed in 2008 to develop the C919, which completed its maiden flight in May 2017. Its maiden commercial flight took off in May 2023 from Shanghai to Beijing. Comac aircraft’s line-up includes the C909, formerly known as the ARJ21, for short flights of 2,225km to 3,700km, with 78 to 97 seats, and the C919 for distances of 4,075km to 5,555km with 158 to 192 seats. It is working on a twin-aisle plane, the C929 for carrying 280 to 290 passengers up to 12,000km, and the future C939, a jumbo aircraft with 400 seats and a 13,000km range, similar to the Boeing 777.

Fanfare as first C919 commercial flight leaves Hong Kong for Shanghai

‘The C919 is a source of pride. As a flight enthusiast, I feel very honoured to be part of this significant milestone,’ a passenger says