The seventh C919 jetliner joined the China Eastern Airlines fleet on Monday in Shanghai, indicating the acceleration of commercial operation of China's homegrown large passenger aircraft.
The plane, the third one delivered to China Eastern this year, landed at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on Monday afternoon, following a short flight from Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
So far, the homemade aircraft fly on four regular commercial routes from Shanghai to Chengdu, Beijing, Xi'an and Guangzhou. With the delivery and introduction of new planes, the flights and routes will be extended further.
During the current summer travel rush, the load factor of C919 operated by China Eastern reached nearly 90 percent.
As of Sunday, the C919 fleet of the airline had completed 3,031 flights in total, with nearly 405,000 passenger trips handled.
The C919, China's first self-developed trunk jetliner, is designed to carry 158 to 192 passengers, with a range of 4,075 to 5,555 km, capable of performing medium-range route tasks. Developed by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd., the plane conducted its successful maiden flight in 2017.
China Eastern Airlines gets 7th C919 aircraft
