Published : 2026-05-05
On 5 May, 2017, China's first homegrown large passenger aircraft, the C919, successfully completed its first flight at Shanghai Pudong Airport, symbolising that the C919 has officially moved from the research and development phase to the practical application stage.
The first flight began at 2:00 p.m. During the flight, which lasted just over an hour, the C919 underwent a series of tests, including flight tests under various conditions, as well as simulated approaches, landings, and go-arounds, all of which were successfully completed.
The name "C919" has a special meaning.
"C" is the first letter of "China" and also the first letter of COMAC, the abbreviation of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China.
It also implies the ambition of the Chinese Mainland to join the international large passenger aircraft market, hoping to compete with "Airbus" and "Boeing," forming a triumvirate of "ABC" in the international large passenger aircraft manufacturing industry.
The first "9" signifies eternity, and "19" indicates that the maximum passenger capacity of the aircraft is 190 seats.
In addition to "C919," people also refer to this aircraft as "homegrown large passenger aircraft." Generally, "large aircraft" refers to transport aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of over 100 tonnes and military aircraft with a range of up to 3,000 kilometres or civil aircraft with more than 100 seats.
Generally, in the Chinese Mainland, aircraft with over 150 seats are called "large passenger aircraft," while those with fewer than 100 seats are called "regional aircraft."
From the beginning of research and development to its rollout at the final assembly manufacturing centre of COMAC in 2015, to the maiden flight at Shanghai Pudong Airport, it took the C919 10 years.
The term “large aircraft” generally refers to transport aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight exceeding 100 tons, and also includes military aircraft with a range of 3,000 kilometers or more, or civilian passenger aircraft with a capacity of 100 seats or more.
The C919 is China’s first large aircraft independently developed in accordance with internationally recognized airworthiness standards.
The project spanned 10 years, from the start of development to the rollout at COMAC’s Final Assembly and Manufacturing Center in 2015, and finally to its maiden flight at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in 2017.
