BEIJING (Reuters) – China Eastern Airlines will launch the first commercial cross-border service operated by C919 between Shanghai and Hong Kong on January 1, state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) said on Thursday.
Currently, the three big state-owned airlines in China all operate the C919, the narrow-body jet domestically developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), but they only fly within mainland China.
The new service, a daily return flight, comes as China seeks to secure the first international customer for the C919, a jet with the potential to rival the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo.
China Eastern, the first to launch the C919, commands a fleet of nine C919s that service various domestic routes.
The addition of Hong Kong – a special administrative region of China with its own aviation regulatory system – as a destination will expand China Eastern’s network to nine cities.
COMAC has been focusing on its international expansion, opening an office in Hong Kong in October, following the establishment of its Asia-Pacific office in Singapore. COMAC has said that the Hong Kong office is a crucial component of its global strategy.
The aircraft manufacturer is seeking to obtain certifications for the C919 from the European Union and has expressed hopes to achieve it by 2025.
(Reporting by Sophie Yu, Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
