China's domestically produced passenger aircraft C919 has made its first international flight.

```html

It has been reported that China's domestically produced passenger aircraft "C919" has started to be used on flights between Shanghai and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

C919 MAKES ITS FIRST FLIGHT TO HONG KONG

According to Xinhua, the C919 passenger aircraft with flight number "MU721," operated by China Eastern Airlines, took off from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport this morning and arrived at Hong Kong International Airport. This was the first flight to Hong Kong by a Chinese airline using the C919.

IT IS POPULAR ON DOMESTIC FLIGHTS

The first delivery of the C919, produced by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), was made on December 9, 2022, and the aircraft made its first commercial flight on May 28, 2023, between Shanghai and Beijing. The widespread use of the domestically produced aircraft on domestic routes is seen as important for its acceptance in the global market.

USED BY THREE MAJOR AIRLINES

The three largest airlines in China are using their 14 C919 aircraft for domestic flights. China Eastern, which has 9 C919s in its fleet, operates regular flights carrying passengers between Shanghai and Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Xi'an, and Taiyuan. China Southern Airlines also uses 3 C919 aircraft for flights between Guangzhou and Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Haikou. Air China utilizes 2 C919s for flights between Beijing and Shanghai and Hangzhou.

COMPETING WITH BOEING AND AIRBUS

The C919, China's first domestically produced medium-range passenger aircraft, is seen as a competitor to the "Boeing 737" and "Airbus A320" models. With the entry of this single-aisle, narrow-body passenger aircraft, which is the most widely used aircraft type in the civil aviation sector worldwide, it is assessed that China could gain a share in the passenger aircraft market dominated by American Boeing and European Airbus companies.

Developed by COMAC since 2008, the C919 does not have entirely domestic characteristics as critical components such as jet engines and flight control software are produced by American companies like General Electric and Honeywell and assembled in China. The company is also developing a long-range passenger aircraft model named "C929" in addition to the currently used short-range passenger aircraft C909 and medium-range passenger aircraft C919.