China delivers 1st self-made passenger plane; see photos

China announced, this Friday (9), the first delivery of its own production aircraft, the C919, with which it intends to compete with the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320.

The first model of the narrow aircraft, with a capacity of 164 passengers, was formally handed over to China Eastern Airlines during a ceremony at Shanghai airport, state media reported.

The act marks “an important milestone” in the trajectory of China’s aviation industry, said state-run CCTV channel, which showed images of the plane with the airline’s emblem and its interior.

In addition, the state-owned COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corp of China) delivered to the airline “a commemorative key for the world’s first C919”, which should start operating early next year.

COMAC said at an industry trade show last month that it had secured orders for 300 of the devices, but did not indicate whether they had been fully confirmed or provide details on pricing or delivery times.

In any case, those 300 orders would bring the number of approved planes to more than 1,100, according to previous company statements.

Despite this intention to compete with Western manufacturers, China signed a US$ 17 billion (R$ 88.5 billion) agreement to buy Airbus planes this year and the company started producing its A321 model in the city of Tianjin, in the northeast of the country last month.

The Boeing 737 MAX has been banned from flying in China since 2019 after two fatal accidents, but the aerospace giant said in July that Chinese regulators could approve its deployment this year.

However, that progress has been slowed by trade tensions between Beijing and Washington and China’s worst commercial plane crash involving a Boeing 737-800 this year.