After making its maiden flight on December 26th last year, the first of China's domestically-developed COMAC C919 began its 100-hour aircraft validation flight process. And slightly more than a month later, on January 28th, the same aircraft took off for its first flight into the prosperous Year of the Rabbit as test flights for the aircraft validation process restarted.

Flying into the Lunar New Year

Although the aircraft has been actively flying short test flights for most of this month, it took a short break after January 20th as the Lunar New Year commenced a couple of days later. The daily testing regime was then restarted on January 28th. Operated by China Eastern Airlines, which was the first airline to adopt the COMAC C919 last December, the first flight into this Lunar New Year was MU 7817.

Departing from Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport at approximately 09:06, MU 7817 flew for just over an hour before landing at Nanchang Changbei International Airport at around 10:30. The COMAC C919, registered B-919A, flew between Shanghai and Nanchang twice that day. The entire flight service was tested during these two trips, from passenger boarding, pilot operations, and even minor aircraft maintenance at the gate.

And the following day, on January 29th, the aircraft flew another test flight. This test trip was slightly longer as it was between Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport and Haikou's Meilan International Airport. The COMAC C919, operating as MU 7807, took off from Shanghai at approximately 14:47, and the aircraft made the over two-hour journey before landing at Haikou at around 17:25.

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Inching close toward aircraft verification

With the daily test flight regime back in full swing after the Lunar New Year break, it's no surprise that China Eastern Airlines has several more flights scheduled for the next few days. However, the destinations for these test flights are currently uncertain at the time of writing. What is certain is how much closer China Eastern Airlines is to finishing the 100-hour validation flight.

Wu Jinjun, Director of the Jiangxi Production Command Center at China Eastern Airlines, commented:

"After the 100-hour validation flight, the Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) of China will conduct verification and examination for the COMAC C919 aircraft to verify if China Eastern Airlines has the capacity to support the operation of aircraft."

Once verified, the CAAC will then grant China Eastern Airlines an operating permit, which the airline will require to unlock future deliveries of the COMAC C919s to its fleet, scheduled to happen later this year. The operating permit will also be the crucial green light for the Shanghai-based carrier to launch the commercial debut of its new aircraft, which is expected to happen this spring.

For the commercial launch of the COMAC C919, China Eastern Airlines is looking to utilize the aircraft on routes connecting Shanghai with Beijing, Kunming, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Xi'an, and Guangzhou.

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COMAC has plans to ramp up production

While China Eastern Airlines is flying hard to achieve its operating permit, COMAC is also working hard concerning the production of its C919s. With over 1,200 orders from numerous carriers, the manufacturer hints at possible enhanced changes to the aircraft's production capacity shortly.

The possible increased production changes would come as China expects to reach an annual production capacity of 150 COMAC C919s within the next five years to compete with the production rates of Airbus and Boeing regarding their narrowbody output.

Source: CGTN, Investing.com, Flightradar24.com

• 

  Comac

  Business Type:

  Planemaker

  Date Founded:

  2008-05-11

  CEO:

  He Dongfeng

  Headquarters Location:

  Shanghai, China

  Key Product Lines:

  Comac ARJ21, Comac C919, Comac C929

• 

  China Eastern Airlines

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  MU/CES

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Year Founded:

  1988

  Alliance:

  SkyTeam

  CEO:

  Liu Shaoyong

  Country:

  China

  Hub(s):

  Shanghai Pudong International Airport

  Region:

  Asia