The first C919 passenger plane was delivered to China Eastern Airlines by Commercial Aircraft Corp from China on Friday in Shanghai. This is the first time that an initially developed mainline liner appeared on the Chinese civil aviation market. The C919 aircraft has a layout of 164 seats, including 156 seats in economy class and eight seats in business class. The first 80 passengers of the special flight flew from Pudong Airport (Shanghai) to Hongqiao Airport (Shanghai), the moment of landing was greeted with a salute.
Based on the initial approval of CAAC China Eastern, it is also necessary to perform more than 100 hours of test flights to verify and confirm the operational safety, reliability of maintenance and various operational support capabilities of the aircraft, since the C919 is the first such model in the world. According to the plan, the liner will be put into commercial operation in the spring of 2023.
It is reported that the Chinese aircraft manufacturer COMAC was congratulated on the first flight aviation giants Airbus and Boeing and they hope to make a joint contribution to the long-term sustainable development of the aviation industry.
At the moment, the C919 has received 1,115 orders in both the domestic and foreign markets. In March 2021, China Eastern officially acquired the first batch of five C919 aircraft, and other purchased aircraft are expected to be delivered in 2023 and 2024.
COMAC predicts that over the next 20 years, China will need 9.3 thousand new aircraft to meet domestic demand, including 6.3 thousand narrow—body. By 2041, the size of China’s air fleet will reach 10 thousand aircraft, which will make up 21% of the world’s passenger aircraft fleet and make China the largest air transportation market in the world.
Source: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202212/10/WS6393bdf3a31057c47eba3af0.html
