China’s first C919 delivered to airline
The first-ever C919, China’s first domestically developed narrow-body passenger jet, was delivered to China Eastern Airlines in Shanghai and is expected to be put into commercial operation next spring.
At Shanghai Pudong International Airport, C919’s manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), delivered the aircraft sales certificate and the commemorative key to China Eastern. The Civil Aviation Administration of China, or CAAC, issued the airworthiness certificate to the carrier.
The first C919 has a layout of 164 seats, including eight seats in business class and 156 seats in economy class. After the delivery, it took off from Pudong airport and landed at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.
Based on the initial approval of the CAAC, China Eastern also needs to carry out more than 100 hours of test flights to verify and confirm the operational safety, maintenance reliability and various operational support capabilities of the aircraft, as the C919 is the first such model globally.
Later, China Eastern plans to put the C919 into commercial service in cities such as Shanghai; Beijing; Xi’an, Shaanxi province; Kunming, Yunnan province; and Guangzhou, Guangdong province. A total of 24 pilots will serve as the first group to operate the C919, the carrier said.
COMAC said the domestic large aircraft industry has entered a new journey of development. So far, the C919 has netted 1,115 orders from home and abroad. In March 2021, China Eastern officially purchased the first batch of five C919s, and other planes it bought are expected to be delivered in 2023 and 2024.
About the C919:
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.
