C919: China’s answer to the Boeing B737 and Airbus A320 taking its first commercial flight

CNN
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China’s first large-sized passenger plane made its inaugural commercial flight on Sunday, flying from Shanghai to Beijing, Xinhua reported.

The new narrow-body C919, flying China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 9191, left Shanghai at 10:32 a.m. local time for a two-hour, 25-minute flight to the Chinese capital.

After years of research and development, the launch of the C919 is seen as a pivotal moment in Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” strategy, which aims to boost domestic manufacturing, including by reducing reliance on foreign aircraft for the aviation sector.

With a range of 5,555 kilometers (3,452 miles), the C919 will take on the world’s two largest aircraft manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing. It will be a direct competitor to the narrow-body A320 and B737 aircraft, most commonly used on domestic, regional and international flights.

Built by COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) in China, the first C919 was delivered to China Eastern Airlines in December 2022, and in the months that followed it went through a series of test flights.

The single-aisle, twin-engine aircraft has 164 seats in a two-class cabin configuration consisting of business and economy seats.

According to the 2022 Shanghai Science and Technology Progress a report Issued by the Shanghai government, 32 customers have placed a total of 1,035 orders for the aircraft as of the end of 2022.

a lot of the The main elements of the aircraft The nose, fuselage, outer wing, vertical stabilizer and horizontal stabilizer were designed by COMAC.

However, the company has hired Western companies to help with some of the components. This includes the plane LEAP-1C enginesdeveloped by CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and the French high-tech industrial group Safran.