China’s C919 jetliner goes into commercial operation
The C919, China’s self-developed large passenger aircraft, completed its first commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market.
The flight, operated by China Eastern Airlines, took off as MU9191 from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport with 128 passengers on board. The plane was greeted with a water salute after touching down at Beijing Capital International Airport.
The C919 is China’s first self-developed trunk jetliner in accordance with international airworthiness standards and owns independent intellectual property rights.
The C919 project was launched in 2007. Developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC), the first C919 aircraft rolled off the production line in Shanghai in November 2015. In 2017, the plane accomplished its maiden flight.
“The first commercial flight is a coming-of-age ceremony of the new aircraft, and C919 will get better and better if it stands the test of the market,” said Zhang Xiaoguang, director of the marketing and sales department of COMAC.
COMAC previously announced that it selected composite materials in the design of C919. Its application range covers rudder and other secondary load-bearing structures and aircraft flat tails and other main load-bearing structures. The dosage of composite materials reaches 11.5% of the body structure weight. Among them, the rear wing main box section and the front section of the rear fuselage use advanced third-generation mid-model high-strength carbon fiber composite materials. The use of composite materials in the main bearing structure, high temperature zone, and pressurized zone is also the first time in domestic civil aircraft development, according to COMAC.
