This photo taken on May 28, 2023 shows a C919, China's self-developed large passenger aircraft, before its first commercial flight in east China's Shanghai. C919 kicked off its first commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing on Sunday, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market. (Photo: Xinhua)

Two of China's first self-developed aircraft C919 models both began servicing routes for China Eastern Airlines between Shanghai and Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Friday,marking another milestone for the steady expansion of C919's commercial operation.
The corresponding flight numbers for the routes between Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Chengdu Tianfu International Airport are MU9197 with MU9198 and MU9189 with MU9190 - the two return flights. Four flights are operating on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday with two flights operating on alternate days, China Media Group reported on Friday. 

The implementation of the commercial routes aims to accumulate more operational data and experience for C919 while contributing to the high-quality development for domestically developed aircrafts, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

As of Monday, the first C919 operating on the route had already completed a total of 125 commercial flights with a total serving time of 360.32 hours and carrying over 15,000 passenger trips. The second C919 aircraft was officially delivered to China Eastern Airlines on July 16.

The first C919 completed its maiden commercial flight on May 28. The inaugural flight departed from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport at 10:32 am and landed at Beijing Capital International Airport at 12:31 pm with around 130 passengers on board. The first C919 then began commercial operation on the Shanghai-Chengdu route.

Chinese Eastern signed an agreement with the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) to purchase five C919 passenger planes in March 2021. COMAC noted in June that the C919 model had received a total of 1,061 orders from more than 30 customers.

The C919 project kicked off in 2007 and completed its first test flight in 2017. It obtained the Type Certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China on September 29, 2022.

Global Times