A Chengdu Airlines C909 aircraft operating a high-altitude route. XINHUA
Commercial Aircraft Corp of China's domestically developed C909 regional jet has carried more than 37 million passengers over a decade of commercial service, the planemaker said, underscoring the country's efforts to build a home-grown civil aviation industry as it expands the aircraft's presence in China's regional markets and overseas.
Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of commercial operations of the C909, formerly known as the ARJ21. Since its entry into service in June 2016, COMAC has delivered 186 aircraft to more than 10 customers, accounting for about 70 percent of China's regional jet fleet, according to the company.
The fleet has operated more than 860 routes serving over 180 cities, with the aircraft now flying more than 500 flights a day on average, COMAC said.
Earlier this month, a Chengdu Airlines C909 aircraft completed the inaugural flight on a new route linking Urumqi, Hejing and Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, becoming the second high-altitude route operated by the regional jet after the Kashgar-Tashikurgan service launched earlier.
