Comac’s C919 has commenced operations on its first commercial route outside of Mainland China, flying from Shanghai to Hong Kong.
China Eastern Airlines, which is the C919’s launch customer, began deploying the type on daily flights between Shanghai’s Hongqiao airport and Hong Kong on 1 January.
Flight MU721 took off at 08:21 local time, says the Shanghai-based carrier, arriving at Hong Kong 2h 22min later. The service had previously been operated by Airbus A321s, according to the airline’s schedules.
“The extension of China Eastern Airlines’ C919 [operations] to the Shanghai-Hong Kong [route] marks a key step for C919 to step onto a bigger stage,” says the carrier.
The airline, which now has 10 C919s in service, had previously operated a charter flight to Hong Kong with the C919 in June 2024. It deploys the type on domestic flights to eight other Chinese cities.
Comac has meanwhile reaffirmed its intentions to ramp-up production of the narrowbody. On 28 December, the airframer held a ceremony to mark expansion works for its Shanghai production facility.
Triple-digit orders from each of China’s ‘big three’ carriers – Air China, China Eastern and China Southern – are driving the need for more production capacity.
“As the C919 is about to enter a new stage of large-scale operation, Comac will accelerate its own capacity-building… while further strengthening co-operation [with the upstream and downstream supply chain],” it states.
Comac chair He Dongfeng, in a message to employees on New Year’s Day, also alluded to the expansion: “A new round of investment and construction has begun.”
Comac is reportedly targeting an annual production rate of 150 aircraft within five years, but some industry watchers have called the figure ambitious, pointing out the ongoing supply chain constraints plaguing the aerospace sector.
