China's homegrown C909 jetliner delivered to Laos for first time

China's domestically produced C909 aircraft was delivered to Lao Airlines on Sunday, marking its first entry into the Lao market.

This C909 aircraft, featuring a 90-seat all-economy class configuration, was delivered under a leasing arrangement.

According to the aircraft maker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC), the C909 bears interior and exterior signage in Lao, a custom-designed livery and a print of Dok Champa, national flower of Laos, on its tail.

It is expected to undergo a series of preparations in Laos before entering commercial operations.

"This is the first time that a Chinese commercial jetliner has entered the Lao market. COMAC has dispatched a dedicated team to assist Lao Airlines with various preparations, including manual development, personnel training, aviation materials support, and maintenance capacity building. Professional teams of pilots, cabin crew, dispatchers, and maintenance experts are also dispatched to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the C909 aircraft in Laos," said Wu Guofang, deputy general manager from Customer Service Center of COMAC.

Formerly known as ARJ21, the C909 aircraft is a domestically developed regional jetliner with a range of 2,225 to 3,700 km, making it suitable for most domestic routes in Laos as well as regional international flights.

So far, 162 units of C909 have been delivered, serving 645 routes across 158 cities and safely transporting over 20 million passengers, said COMAC.

In 2022, this model was delivered to its first overseas client TransNusa, an Indonesian airline, making it China's first indigenously developed passenger jetliner to enter foreign markets.

China's homegrown C909 jetliner delivered to Laos for first time

China's homegrown C909 jetliner delivered to Laos for first time

China's homegrown C909 jetliner delivered to Laos for first time

China's homegrown C909 jetliner delivered to Laos for first time

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Bulgaria's Ministry of Defense on Friday night to protest U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and demand that U.S. military aircraft leave Bulgaria.

The protesters carried banners reading "Bulgaria says no to war! We want peace, not death!" and "Yankee, go home!" to voice opposition to what they described as an illegal invasion and to the presence of U.S. military forces in Bulgaria.

"We have gathered here to express our opinion that what the United States has launched is an illegal invasion," said Grigorova, a protester.

Several U.S. military planes have been deployed at Sofia Airport since February. Although the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense has denied that they were linked to U.S. military operations against Iran, saying they were deployed to provide logistical support for NATO operations, some Bulgarians remain concerned that this could drag their country into war.

The U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28 launched strikes against Iran, plunging the war-torn Middle East into a new round of violence. Iran has retaliated with a series of counterattacks against Israel and U.S. targets across the region.

Bulgarians rally against U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran