COMAC C919 enters commercial service

On 28 May 2023, an important milestone was achieved for the COMAC C919-programme as the airliner entered commercial service. The aircraft, B-919A (00007), is part of the fleet of China Eastern Airlines and the first commercial flight was operated from Shanghai-Honqiao Airport to Beijing-Capital and back. Since then, the aircraft has been flying between Shanghai-Honqiao to Chengdu. It was delivered to the airline in December 2022 but had some technical issues before being able to be deployed commercially.

According to COMAC, the manufacturer has secured 1,000 orders and commitments for the C919, which flew for the first time on 5 May 2017. China Eastern is on the books for nineteen more C919s, of which three are planned for delivery this year.

The C919 is currently not certified by the EASA and FAA, which means it can only operate within China or Chinese-allied countries. This is the same as for the ARJ21, which is today only flying outside of China in Indonesia. It's, however, the amibtion of COMAC to secure these certifications in order to make the aircraft more interesting for international customers.

Photo by Beijing Daily.