China's homegrown C919 aircraft completed its first commercial flight to a feeder airport on Wednesday, a key step towards marking a nationwide aviation network of large domestic aircraft covering both major and feeder airports.
The C919-operated China Southern Airlines flight CZ3383, carrying 139 passengers, landed at the Jiangying Airport in Nanyang City of central China's Henan Province at 23:57 local time. The newly built airliner has ensured a smooth and stable trip, according to passengers.
"We are confident of the stability and safety of the flight," said one of the passengers.
The route from Guangzhou, a southern hub city and capital of Guangdong Province, was its maiden commercial service to a regional airport under China's "trunk-branch connectivity" strategy to expand domestic aircraft service coverage.
From Thursday to Friday, the crew members of the C919 aircraft will conduct intensive training sessions at the Jiangying Airport, covering subjects such as takeoff, landing, and go-around maneuvers. The exercises aim to gather operational data and promote coordination between the aircraft and ground services.
"Especially for our personnel, who has just finished training on flight simulators, to experience and control a real plane will help them to get familiar with the maneuverability and performance of the aircraft more quickly," said Qian Yining, head of China Southern's C919 fleet.
China's homegrown C919 aircraft completes first feeder airport flight
The United States cannot legitimize an operation that attacked Venezuela and captured its president, a Chinese scholar said Sunday.
On Saturday, the United States launched a large-scale strike on Venezuela, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were 'captured and flown out of Venezuela' according to a post by U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account.
Teng Jianqun, director of the Center for Diplomatic Studies at Hunan Normal University, said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) that the aim of this operation is to take full control of Venezuela’s natural resources.
"I don't think the United States can legitimize this operation to take custody of the president of Venezuela. And also I don't think the United States can legitimize its any action in taking the oil reserves of that country. This is actually a very dangerous game played by the Trump administration. And of course, the United States would like to take full control of that country and to take full control of the natural resources, especially the large reserve of oil in Venezuela," said Teng.
Teng said Venezuela is not an isolated case but a common practice by the United States. The United States launched an invasion of Panama on Dec. 20, 1989, which continued until January 1990, with the stated objective of capturing Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega on charges of drug trafficking and organized crime.
"We still remember the so-called sentence of the former president of Panama in the late 1980s. And this time, the president of Venezuela will be under some judicial condition (judicial proceedings) for the so-called drug trafficking and some other crimes. So I think this is not a single case for the Venezuela country, but also this is actually a practice by the United States -- to use force, to use so-called justice under law against any leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean waters," he said.
US cannot legitimize operation against Venezuela: Chinese scholar
