C919 debuts overseas service

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport welcomes the landing of the C919 jet from Hong Kong with a "water gate" ceremony on Saturday. TAO LEI/FOR CHINA DAILY

China Eastern, which is based in Shanghai, received its sixth C919 jet on May 27 from manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, or COMAC.

Over the past year, its five other C919 jets have been used in 2,181 commercial flights and have accumulated a total of 6,090 hours of commercial operation, safely handling about 300,000 passenger trips as of May 27.

"As a new aircraft model, it has taken quite a long time for the C919 to grow into a well-recognized and sophisticated one in the industry," said Qi Qi, an associate professor at Guangzhou Civil Aviation College.

"To reach the long-term goal of breaking the duopoly of Boeing and Airbus, the C919 needs to fly domestically and globally to win market recognition, develop its fleet, gain consumer confidence and strengthen its production and supply chain."

According to Zhu Rui, chief technology officer of aviation data and solution service provider Vari-Flight, C919 aircraft have flown to six major airports in cities on the Chinese mainland over the past year, including Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu in Sichuan province and Xi'an in Shaanxi province.