A new domestically produced passenger jet from China has made its first delivery; the plane is scheduled to make its first commercial flight early the following year. Although the majority of its parts are imported, Beijing expects that the C919 commercial airliner will compete with Western models like the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320. In a ceremony at Shanghai airport, the first model of the 164-passenger narrow-body jet was formally handed over to China Eastern Airlines, according to state media.
The move marked an important milestone in the journey of China’s aircraft industry, state broadcaster CCTV said. Footage broadcast Friday by CCTV showed the jet bearing the China Eastern insignia standing on a rainswept airfield and gave a glimpse inside the aircraft’s cabin.The airline was given a commemorative key to the world’s first C919 by the government-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), according to CCTV.
Video Courtesy: BBC News
At an airshow last month, COMAC announced that it had orders for 300 C919s, but it didn’t say whether the contracts were fully confirmed, how much the deals were worth, or when they would be delivered.However, if the orders are carried out, they would bring the total known deals for the C919 to over 1,100, according to data from earlier COMAC declarations.
Prior to the end of the year, four aircraft were anticipated to be delivered to China Eastern, the nation’s second-largest airline by passenger volume, before they began service in the first quarter of 2023, according to domestic media reports.Airbus signed a $17 billion contract with China earlier this year, and last month the company began producing its A321 aircraft in the northeastern city of Tianjin. The Boeing 737 MAX has been grounded in China since 2019 after two fatal crashes, though the aerospace giant said in July that it may be approved for delivery by Chinese regulators this year. But lingering US-China trade tensions and China’s worst commercial air disaster earlier this year involving a Boeing 737-800 have slowed progress.
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