China has entered the business making airplanes. The first Chinese-made commercial aircraft took from Shanghai on Sunday and landed Beijing Airport. The narrow-bodied C919 plane had 128 passengers board. The company that made the plane is the Commercial Aircraft Corporation China Ltd. This is shortened to "COMAC". China's President Xi Jinping hailed the C919 aircraft as a "triumph of Chinese innovation". Newspapers China called the C919 "a symbol industrial prowess and national pride". A passenger the flight was impressed the plane. He said: "The flight was extremely smooth, comfortable and memorable. I'll remember this fondly for some time to come."
COMAC hopes to be a major player the commercial airplane market. It hopes to compete industry giants such as Boeing and Airbus. COMAC started developing the C919 in 2008. Production began late 2011. In September 2022, it passed the standards to fly commercially China. COMAC's first customer was China Eastern Airlines, which bought five the aircraft. COMAC plans to build 150 planes each year the next five years. A spokesperson said there were orders for more than 1,000 C919s different Chinese airlines. He hopes airlines other countries will soon start making orders. He added that the plane was an "important milestone" China's aircraft industry.
