China's first self-developed large passenger aircraft C919 launched its second commercial flight by China Eastern Airlines on Jan 9, 2024.
Flight MU5137 took off at 3:40 pm from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and landed at Beijing Daxing International Airport at 5:27 pm with a passenger load factor (PLF) of more than 85 percent. The return flight departed from Beijing Daxing International Airport at 7:15 pm and had a PLF of nearly 100 percent.
The Beijing-Shanghai airline is the busiest commercial air route in China. China Eastern was the first airline to launch express air service between the two cities. At present, China Eastern has 404 flights operating on the route every week, covering 24 hours a day and serving Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing Daxing International Airport, Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
China Eastern carried out the first flight of the C919 aircraft on May 28, 2023. The C919's first regular commercial flights between the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Chengdu Tianfu International Airport started on May 29, 2023.
So far, China Eastern has four C919 aircrafts in total. The company inked orders for 100 C919 aircrafts on Sept 28, 2023, becoming the largest C919 user in the world.
As of Dec 31, 2023, the C919 aircraft of China Eastern had conducted 655 flights and carried nearly 82,000 passengers.
(Executive editor: Xie Yunxiao)
