China’s C919 jet gets new route as development for widebody sibling rolls on

China has launched a new route for the C919 – China’s home-grown narrowbody passenger jet – a move that will expand its commercial footprint, bolster the country’s push for self-reliance in civil aviation and contribute to its quest to meet economic targets for the coming year.

Beijing is also positioning its widebody C929 to break the duopoly of Boeing and Airbus, the current giants of the industry, with plans for construction of a manufacturing hub in Hangzhou for the in-development passenger aircraft this year. The project was officially unveiled by the city, capital of Zhejiang province, in an announcement issued last month.

The narrowbody C919, which first entered commercial operations last May, will start the new route on Friday, according to China Eastern Airlines’ online ticket booking system.

Two daily round trips will be flown by the aircraft between Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Xian Xianyang International Airport, an addition to the plane’s route map made shortly after the airline added a fifth C919 to its fleet on Saturday.

China has made the C919 its poster child for entry into the highly sophisticated and competitive civil aviation sector, part of an overall plan to demonstrate its capabilities in advanced manufacturing spurred largely by a wide-ranging technological rivalry with the US.

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China’s C919: first home-grown airliner makes international debut

Developing the industry was identified as a major target for the new year in a work report by Premier Li Qiang, delivered on Tuesday during the annual meetings of the country’s top legislature and political advisory body, known as the “two sessions”.

And in an effort to boost international sales and exposure, the state-owned Commercial Aircraft