C919 flies to Tibet for first time
Comac’s C919 aircraft has flown from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, in Sichuan, China, to Lhasa Kongga International Airport in Tibet earlier this month, the first time the Chinese-made jet has operated to the autonomous region.
Both the C919, a single-aisle aircraft, and the ARJ21 aircraft, a 90-seat regional jet, are in Lhasa for demonstration flights above the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, dubbed the “roof of the world”.
The C919 aircraft will carry out development flight tests of systems critical to high plateau operation, such as the environmental control system, the avionics system and the power plants, as well as high plateau airport adaptability checks, Comac said.
The ARJ21 recently completed its first commercial flight from a high-altitude airport in China, and has used Chengdu and Lhasa as bases to carry out demonstration flights since August, with the sorties covering 11 high plateau airports, including Daocheng Yading Airport, the highest civil airport in the world.
