China is now making airplanes. The first Chinese-made airplane with passengers took off from Shanghai on Sunday and landed at Beijing. The C919 plane was made by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. This is shortened to "COMAC". China's president called the C919 aircraft a "triumph of Chinese innovation". Newspapers in China called it "a symbol of industrial skill and national pride". A passenger said: "The flight was extremely smooth, comfortable and memorable. I'll remember it fondly for some time to come."

COMAC hopes to compete with airline industry giants, like Boeing and Airbus. It started developing the C919 in 2008. Production began in 2011. In September 2022, it was passed to fly commercially in China. COMAC's first customer was China Eastern Airlines. COMAC plans to build 150 planes each year for the next five years. It has orders for more than 1,000 C919s from different Chinese airlines. It hopes to get international orders. COMAC said its airplane was an "important milestone" for China's aircraft industry.