China's C919 launches Shanghai-Guangzhou route

China's domestically-produced C919 aircraft inaugurated its fourth  commercial regular route on Friday, flying 162 passengers from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. 

The aircraft was welcomed with a conventional water salute at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

According to the flight schedule, the C919 aircraft will operate two round-trip segments daily on the route.

Specifically, Flight MU5309 departs from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport at 9:30 a.m. and arrives in Guangzhou at 11:55 a.m. Flight MU5316 takes off from Guangzhou at 1:30 p.m. and arrives in Shanghai at 4:00 p.m.

As the sole airline currently operating the aircraft commercially, Eastern Airlines has expanded its C919 fleet to six aircraft.

The world's first C919 was put into use on May 28, 2023. So far, C919 has operated a total of 2,360 commercial flights, accumulating over 6,560 hours in the air and transporting over 300,000 passengers.

In addition to the Shanghai Hongqiao to Guangzhou Baiyun route, Eastern Airlines' C919 operates on routes from Shanghai Hongqiao to Beijing Daxing International Airport, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, and

Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, with the aircraft's daily utilization rate continuously increasing.