The world's first C919 aircraft departs from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on December 26, 2022. Photo: Courtesy of China Eastern Airlines

The world's first C919, newly received by China Eastern Airlines, started a total of 100 hours of verification flights on Monday, laying the foundation for future commercial flights, which are expected to begin in the spring of 2023.

Flight MU7801 landed at Beijing Capital International Airport on Monday at 3:17 pm, after departing from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.

The 100 hours of required flight time will last until mid-February 2023, covering 10 airports in nine Chinese provinces and cities.

For each verification flight day, the C919 aircraft will take off from Shanghai Hongqiao airport and fly to another city. The destinations include Beijing's two airports, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, and airports in Xi'an, Haikou, Qingdao, Wuhan, Nanchang and Jinan, before returning to Shanghai Hongqiao airport on the same day.

"The flying experience is very good, and the operation of the aircraft is smooth," Shang Feng, captain of the C919, told the Global Times on Monday, after landing at the airport. 

With 15,200 flying hours over the past 20 years, Shang has rich experience. He attended the delivery flight from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on December 9.

All the operation interfaces are in Chinese, said Hu Hong, head of cabin crew in Shanghai with China Eastern. The 100-hour empty aircraft verification flights and the inspection result approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) are the key for the airlines in terms of commercial flights, observers said. 

China Eastern said the verification process is aimed at verifying the airline's ability to safely operate the C919 aircraft, including the applicability and operability of the policies, standards, regulations and procedures formulated by the carrier in the early stages of usage.

The flight MU7801 lands at Beijing Capital International Airport on December 26. Photo: Tu Lei/GT

It will verify the support capabilities of the airline's various systems, and whether technical support workers have the ability to safely operate the C919 aircraft.

Verification flights must simulate the entire flight operation process, including the entire process of dispatch, passenger boarding, pilot operation and maintenance, Xie Zhaohui, general manager of Beijing branch of China Eastern Airlines, told the Global Times on Monday.

After the C919 completes a verification flight, the CAAC will verify and inspect the flight data and performance indicators, and issue the corresponding operating permit.

As the first carrier to use the new aircraft, China Eastern will provide relevant departments with data accumulated in the verification flights and operation support experiences to help the continuous optimization and improvement of new planes.

China Eastern said it has completed the first intake of training for nine pilots, 24 flight attendants and 13 aircraft maintenance personnel.

In addition to the ongoing training of the second intake of personnel for key positions, the number of relevant support personnel is sufficient to meet the initial requirements for verification, China Eastern said.

The airline said that it aims to put the C919 into commercial passenger operation during the spring of 2023, and the C919 will fly on routes serving Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an, Kunming, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen.

The world's first C919 aircraft, also China's first domestically developed passenger jet, was delivered to China Eastern Airlines in Shanghai on December 9.

The C919 project was established in 2007 and the plane made its maiden flight in 2017. It obtained the type certificate of the CAAC in September, and gained the production certificate on November 29.

China Eastern Airlines and the aircraft's manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corp of China signed a purchase contract for the first batch of five C919 aircraft in March 2021. The remaining four aircraft will be delivered in the coming two years.

The flight MU7801 lands at Beijing Capital International Airport on December 26. Photo: Tu Lei/GT