Air China’s first C919 aircraft completes maiden flight

Air China’s CA1523 flight, operated by the airline’s first C919 aircraft, takes off from Beijing Capital International Airport on its maiden flight, Beijing, China, September 10, 2024. /CMG

Air China’s first C919 aircraft completed its maiden commercial flight on Tuesday. The CA1523 flight took off from Beijing Capital International Airport and landed in Shanghai Hongqiao Airport.

This marks the official beginning of Air China’s commercial operations for the domestically developed C919 aircraft, a narrow-body jet airliner designed and manufactured by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) – a significant achievement for China’s aviation industry.

Air China’s C919 is equipped with a larger maximum take-off weight and engine thrust compared to standard models, making it more suitable for longer-range flights. This capability enhances its market applicability and positions it as a competitive option in the global aviation market.

Air China’s CA1523 flight, operated by the airline’s first C919 aircraft, lands at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai, China, September 10, 2024. /CMG

Since beginning commercial operations on May 28, 2023, the C919 has logged over 10,000 flight hours and completed more than 3,700 commercial flights.

It reached a milestone on September 1 after surpassing the 500,000-mark in terms of the number of passengers transported.

The first C919 large passenger aircraft was delivered to China Eastern Airlines on December 9, 2022. The airline has since expanded its C919 fleet to seven aircraft, operating five regular routes that connect Shanghai with Chengdu, Beijing, Xi’an and Guangzhou, as well as Beijing with Xi’an.

On August 28, Air China and China Southern Airlines received their first C919 aircraft in Shanghai, marking a pivotal moment as the country’s first domestically produced large passenger aircraft enters a new phase of multi-operator deployment.

Read more: What’s next for China’s C919 as orders pile up?

Reference Link:- https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-09-11/Air-China-s-first-C919-aircraft-completes-maiden-flight-1wNPyHknLXi/p.html

Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan Founder & Chair, Global Silk Route Research Alliance

Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…

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