China’s first home-grown narrowbody aircraft, the C919, has taken another step towards proving its reliability, after handling a surge in flights during the Lunar New Year travel rush.
The big three Chinese state-owned airlines used their C919 fleets more intensively than ever before, with each C919 staying in the air for an average of 6.5 hours per day over the 40-day holiday period.
Though the airlines deployed their Airbus and Boeing aircraft even more, the holiday still represented a test for the C919, as its utilisation rate soared by 40 per cent compared with the same period last year.
“The C919 demonstrated its reliability as a daily-use aircraft, and there are no significant weaknesses when compared with Airbus and Boeing,” said Li Hanming, a civil aviation analyst.
The Lunar New Year travel period, which ended on Saturday, brings a dramatic spike in travel demand each year as families across China reunite with their relatives.
Demand for air travel reached a record high during this year’s holiday, with the country’s airlines handling 2.25 million passenger trips per day on average, up 7.4 per cent compared with the 2024 holiday, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
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