Staff members of a C919 large passenger aircraft get off the plane at the Turpan Jiaohe Airport in Turpan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 28, 2020. China's indigenously-developed C919 large passenger aircraft has started high-temperature test flights in Turpan, a city known as the land of fire in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The C919 conducted a successful maiden flight in 2017. Now the aircraft has started intensive test flights from various airports to make sure performance can meet airworthiness standards. (Photo by Liu Jian/Xinhua)

 China's first civil aircraft with its own intellectual property rights, the C919, started its high temperature operating test on Sunday and landed at Turpan Jiaohe Airport in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

According to media reports, extreme weather testing is compulsory for all planes that are still in the research and development stage in China and abroad. The C919, as a domestically produced large passenger plane, has to go through trials such as the high temperature test. 

The testing environment at Turpan Jiaohe Airport can reach 42 degrees Celsius. Turpan is one of the hottest places in China in the summer, so it offers the best environment for high temperature aircraft testing. 

The C919 aircraft will also undergo its flying tests there.

The C919 is a narrow-body jet developed by Chinese aerospace manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). Its development was launched in 2008 and production of a prototype began in December 2011. 

China's companies are making an effort to commercialize domestically produced planes to make them more market-oriented, Qi Qi, a market watcher told the Global Times. 

"Chinese airline companies, both state and privately owned, have begun to try out domestic planes," Qi said. "Going through standard testing is an important part before being accepted into the fleet of major airline companies."

The C919 is not the only Chinese jetliner making progress in commercial development. Earlier this month, China Express Airlines said that it would buy and operate a total of 100 planes from COMAC, including both the C919 and China's first domestically made regional jetliner, the ARJ21. 

https://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/2020-06-10/doc-iircuyvi7776857.shtml

On Sunday three major Chinese airlines received their first ARJ21 planes in Shanghai, marking the acceptance of the Chinese jet by mainstream international airlines.

Global Times