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The world’s first C919, a Chinese-made narrowbody jet, was delivered to launch customer China Eastern Airlines in Shanghai on Friday and took off for a 15-minute flight to mark the historic moment. The plane, a rival to the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX single-aisle jet families, is expected to make its maiden commercial flight next spring, according to state-owned Xinhua News Agency. It was certified for safe operations in September and mass production in November. The plane delivered to China Eastern has 164 seats and was painted with “the world’s first C919” on its side in Chinese and English. Its maiden route will be between Shanghai and the capital Beijing, industry sources have said. China Eastern said on Friday it plans to receive the remaining four of its first batch of C919 orders over the next two years, according to Shanghai’s The Paper. That compares with earlier plans to get all four next year. China’s narrowbody jet ambitions intensified over the last few years amid conflicts with the United States from trade to technology that made China increasingly concerned about being overly dependent on Airbus and Boeing. Commercial Aviation Corp of China (COMAC) is expected to produce around 25 C919s per year by 2030, far lower than the current monthly rates of narrowbody production at its rivals, according to Jefferies analysts.<br/>

Vietnam Airlines said on Friday it has restarted its first regular commercial flight to China after nearly three years of suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic. “As China has eased its COVID-19 restrictions, Vietnam Airlines has reopened some of its routes between the two countries to meet travel demand,” it said. The resumption of the first regular flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Guangzhou, will be followed by services between Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi from next week, it said. Vietnam’s flag carrier said it now was operating 600 international flights per week, or 70% of its pre-pandemic capacity. <br/>