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air china and china southern airlines received the first c919 domestically-produced large aircraft.

on august 28, the paper reporter learned that air china (hereinafter referred to as "air china") and china southern airlines (hereinafter referred to as "china southern airlines") simultaneously received the first c919 aircraft at the pudong base of the commercial aircraft corporation of china (comac) final assembly and manufacturing center. this marks that the c919 has been listed in the top three domestic aviation central enterprises and is about to enter a new stage of multi-user operation.

at the event, as the hangar door slowly opened, the first c919 of air china painted with the five-star red flag and the first c919 of china southern airlines painted with red kapok flowers appeared on the same stage, complementing each other. comac issued the "aircraft sales certificate" to air china and china southern airlines and handed over the aircraft delivery commemorative keys, and the civil aviation administration of china issued the "nationality registration certificate", "single aircraft airworthiness certificate" and "radio station license" to air china and china southern airlines.

the c919 is my country's first jetliner independently developed in accordance with international airworthiness standards and with independent intellectual property rights. it adopts a single-aisle narrow-body layout, with 158 to 168 seats and a range of 4,075 to 5,555 kilometers. currently, the number of orders for the c919 has exceeded 1,000.

air china's first c919 is an extended-range model with 158 seats in two cabins, including 8 business class seats and 150 economy class seats. china southern airlines' first c919 is a standard-range model with 164 seats in three cabins, including 8 business class seats, 18 premium economy class seats and 138 economy class seats. both aircraft are equipped with customized cabin seats and other facilities and equipment, and all cabins are equipped with personal charging ports to provide passengers with a convenient and comfortable flight experience.

to ensure the smooth introduction and subsequent smooth operation of the c919 aircraft, air china and china southern airlines said they would work closely with comac to fully promote aircraft selection, production supervision, personnel training, operational preparation, etc. comac said it would always adhere to the customer-centric approach and continue to improve its customer service and operational support system to prepare for the introduction of more c919 aircraft into route operations.

in april this year, air china (601111.sh) and china southern airlines (600029.sh) both announced that they would purchase 100 c919 series aircraft from comac, which will be delivered in phases between 2024 and 2031.

on september 28, 2023, china eastern airlines (600115.sh), as the world's first user of the c919 large passenger aircraft, ordered 100 more c919 large passenger aircraft on the basis of the first batch of 5 aircraft signed in 2021. according to the plan, the 100 c919s will be delivered in batches from 2024 to 2031.

this also means that air china, china eastern airlines and china southern airlines, the three major aviation central enterprises, have all ordered 100 large aircraft from comac. by 2031, the three major airlines will each introduce a total of 100 large aircraft.

china eastern airlines is currently the world's largest user of the domestically produced c919 large aircraft. on december 9, 2022, china eastern airlines received the world's first c919 aircraft from comac. on may 28, 2023, china eastern airlines successfully completed the first commercial flight of c919. on july 29, 2024, china eastern airlines' seventh c919 was commissioned, the third c919 aircraft received this year and the second of the previous 100 aircraft orders. currently, china eastern airlines' c919 has opened multiple commercial scheduled routes from shanghai hongqiao to chengdu tianfu, beijing daxing, xi'an xianyang, and guangzhou baiyun. with the delivery and introduction of new aircraft, the number of flights and routes will also be "updated".

earlier, the paper reporter learned from china eastern airlines at the end of july that during the peak summer season, the occupancy rate of china eastern airlines' c919 flights remained at nearly 90%. as of july 28, 2024, china eastern airlines' c919 fleet has carried out a total of 3,031 flights and carried nearly 405,000 passengers.

according to cctv news on august 28, a total of 9 c919 aircraft have been delivered to customers so far. among them, the c919 aircraft of the first user, china eastern airlines, has been running smoothly for 15 consecutive months since its commercial maiden flight, flying 5 scheduled routes, carrying out more than 3,600 commercial flights and flying 10,000 hours.

according to exclusive information from the paper, 30 c919s are expected to roll off the assembly line this year, and the final assembly capacity is expected to reach 50 this year. in addition, it is expected that by 2027, the production capacity of c919 will reach 150, and the number of roll-offs may exceed 100.

on january 24 this year, zhang yujin, deputy to the shanghai municipal people's congress and then member of the standing committee of the party committee and deputy general manager of commercial aircraft corporation of china, revealed in an exclusive interview with the paper at the shanghai two sessions that the production capacity of c919 is expected to continue to expand gradually and grow steadily this year, achieving "more, faster and better" production; at the same time, it is planned to invest several hundred billion yuan in expanding production capacity within three to five years. prior to this, at the shanghai two sessions last year, zhang yujin also exclusively revealed to the paper that the annual production capacity of c919 is expected to reach 150 within five years.

as the production capacity of c919 continues to expand, the delivery will be further accelerated. in addition to the three major aviation central enterprises, private airlines also plan to welcome large aircraft this year.

according to a reporter from the paper, hna airlines' suparna airlines will receive its first c919 aircraft in the fourth quarter of 2024, becoming the world's first private airline to operate the c919. in the future, suparna airlines' fleet will gradually be adjusted to a single domestically-made c919 aircraft. specifically, the company plans to introduce 30 c919 aircraft. it has established a c919 domestic civil aircraft center, completed two phases of c919 aircraft training for a total of 37 maintenance engineers, and will begin training for flight, cabin crew, and security personnel at the end of august.