China's home-grown large passenger plane C919 jet completed its first long-distance flight on Friday, in a milestone that its manufacturer said marks the plane's move into an airworthiness certification phase. The Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (COMAC) said in a statement the C919 flew for 2 hours and 23 minutes from Shanghai to the central Chinese city of Xi'an, travelling more than 1,300 km (800 miles) and reaching an altitude of 7,800 meters (25,590 feet).
The jet, which China wants to compete with Boeing Co's 737 and the Airbus SE A320, is a symbol of China's civil aerospace ambitions. It will remain in Xi'an to undergo further testing, the planemaker said. The latest flight is the plane's sixth test since it flew for the first time on May 5. Analysts had questioned the long time gaps between previous test flights.
COMAC is aiming to obtain certification for the plane from Chinese regulators as well as Europe's aviation safety regulator, which in April agreed to start the certification process.
COMAC said it planned to eventually test six C919 planes and will carry out the first flight for its second jet by the end of this year. The plane currently has 27 customers who have placed orders and commitments for 730 jets, it added.
With a standard range of 4,075 kilometers, the C919 jet is comparable to the updated Airbus 320 and Boeing's new generation 737.
