On Sunday, nearly six months after being handed to China Eastern Airlines, an aeroplane developed in China that will compete with Boeing and Airbus made its first commercial flight.
According to the airline’s Weibo account, flight MU9191 departed from Shanghai at 10.32 a.m. local time. According to a tweet from the People’s Daily, the aircraft had 128 passengers on board and had landed in Beijing.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, or Comac as it is more commonly known, has travelled a long way to make its commercial debut.
The narrow-body airliner’s initial development began in 2008, and production got underway in late 2011. But the C919 did not obtain official certification to fly until September 2022, bringing a stop to flight testing and opening the door for Comac to begin deliveries.
The C919’s initial customer, China Eastern Airlines, has placed an order for five aircraft.
After the first jet was delivered in December, it underwent a period of virtually daily flight activity to complete the necessary 100 hours of proving flights.
However, according to data from FlightRadar24, the aircraft did not travel frequently from February 7 to May 17.
Source: thenationalnews