In China, the first domestically produced passenger plane has made its maiden flight. The Chinese manufacturer’s C919 Comac flew from Shanghai to Beijing on Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The China Eastern Airlines plane landed “without any problems” in the capital 40 minutes before the scheduled arrival time.
130 passengers traveled in the C919. They were lavishly entertained to celebrate the event. Images in state media showed passengers waving Chinese flags and singing patriotic songs while cakes were distributed to them in the air. On the runway at Peking then a short ceremony to celebrate the successful maiden flight took place.
The flight was “extremely smooth, comfortable and memorable,” said one passenger CCTV. “I think I’ll remember it fondly for a while.”
China wants to compete with foreign models such as the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320 with the C919. “In the future, most passengers will be able to travel on large, domestically manufactured aircraft,” CCTV reported. However, many of the components of the C919, including the engines, come from abroad.