China’s first C919 lands in Qingdao City on 100-hour verification flight

Beijing, The Gulf Observer: China’s first China Eastern Airlines (CEA) C919 large passenger jet landed in Qingdao City in east China’s Shandong Province on Sunday, adding a new route to its 100-hour verification flight.

The C919, flight number of MU7811, flew from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport to Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport, arriving at 11:14 a.m.

CEA began a 100-hour verification flight for its first C919 aircraft on December 26, 2022 to verify and confirm the aircraft’s operation safety, paving the way for its commercial debut in spring of 2023.

Covering a total of nine routes, the verification flight will last until mid-February 2023, involving 10 airports in nine Chinese provinces and cities.

Before landing in Qingdao, the plane had already arrived in the cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Xi’an and Haikou. It will next head to Jinan, Nanchang, Wuhan, Hefei, Nanjing and Taiyuan to complete the 100-hour verification flight.

Commercial operation

The C919 is China’s first domestically-built large passenger aircraft developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). It was granted a certificate of airworthiness by the CAAC last September.

CEA signed a contract to buy five C919s in March 2021 in the first commercial deal for the plane. The airline officially received its first C919 jet numbered B-919A on December 9, 2022, and the remaining four aircraft will be delivered in succession in the next two years based on the supplier’s production and delivery plan.

So far, over 1,200 C919 jetliners have been ordered, according to COMAC.