Mainland China’s home-grown C919 and ARJ21 civilian passenger aircraft to make inaugural flights to Hong Kong next week
- C919, ARJ21 expected to visit the city between December 12 and 17 will go on static display and conduct fly-by over Victoria Harbour
- ‘Developing these two types of aircraft is an important milestone for the country’s aerospace manufacturing industry,’ John Lee says
Mainland China’s home-grown civilian passenger aircraft will visit Hong Kong for the first time next week, the chief executive has revealed just days after the city welcomed a space programme delegation that included astronauts from across the border.
The ARJ21 and C919 jets visiting between December 12 and 17 will be on static display at Hong Kong International Airport, with the latter expected to perform a demonstration flight over Victoria Harbour.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday said that developing these two types of aircraft was an important milestone for the country’s aerospace manufacturing industry.
“I welcome the first visit by the C919 and the ARJ21, I also want to thank the country’s civil aviation administration and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) for their full support,” he said.
The COMAC-developed ARJ21 is the first turbofan regional aircraft completely designed and manufactured by the country. It entered commercial operation in 2016 and was brought into the international market in 2022, following the delivery of the aircraft to Indonesian airline TransNusa.
The C919 is China’s first domestically developed narrowbody passenger jet, which was designed to compete with Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 family of single-aisle aircraft. Both are aviation industry staples.
