The first large passenger aircraft manufactured in China made its maiden flight earlier this month.

The C919 — manufactured by the Commercial Aviation Corporation of China (Comac) (english.comac.cc) — is a single-aisle aircraft built to compete with the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320.

Depending on the seating configuration used, it can carry between 156 and 168 people. After taking off from Pudong Airport in Shanghai, the aircraft flew for a total of 90min before landing safely.

The flight is viewed as a major achievement for China’s aviation industry, joining the ranks of the USA, Russia, the EU and Brazil as one of the few places with the capacity to manufacture such large aircraft.

However, key parts of the aircraft, including the avionics and jet engines, were still procured from outside China.

Comac has already won orders for over 500 of the aircraft, mainly from Chinese customers.