China's C919 jetliner makes inaugural Shanghai-Wuhan flight

China's self-developed jet C919 was put into operation on a new flight route between Shanghai and Wuhan, the capital city of Central China's Hubei province, on Dec 4 by China Eastern Airlines. （Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn）

China's self-developed jet C919 was put into operation on a new flight route between Shanghai and Wuhan, the capital city of Central China's Hubei province, on Wednesday by China Eastern Airlines, according to the Shanghai-based carrier.

A conventional water salute ceremony was held at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport upon the arrival of the inaugural flight from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport with 142 passengers onboard.

The new regular commercial flight has made Wuhan the eighth Chinese city where China Eastern's C919 fleet is operated after Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu of Sichuan province, Xi'an of Shaanxi province, Guangzhou of Guangdong province and Taiyuan of Shanxi province.

The debut flight to Wuhan was conducted by China Eastern's ninth C919 aircraft. Coded as B-657T, the C919 jetliner is the first C919 connected into local area network, which allows passengers onboard to better enjoy the in-flight entertainment via their personal mobile electronic devices including mobile phones, tablets and laptops upon connection to the Wi-Fi.

As the first global customer of C919, China Eastern has purchased a total of 105 C919 aircraft from its manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC). The Shanghai-based carrier currently operates nine C919 jets, which is the largest C919 fleet globally.

Since its maiden commercial flight on May 28, 2023, China Eastern's C919 fleet has conducted more than 5,500 commercial flights and transported more than 750,000 passenger trips as of Nov 21.