The China-developed commercial passenger aircraft, Comac C919, will embark on its first flight outside the Mainland during a demonstration flight over Victoria Harbour on December 16. The aircraft will land in Hong Kong on December 12 along with the ARJ21, the first turbofan regional aircraft independently designed and manufactured by China.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Lee said, “From December 12-17, the C919 and ARJ21 will be visiting Hong Kong. These two planes will be exhibited at the Hong Kong airport. It is the first time for the two planes to visit anywhere outside of the country,” adding that the aircraft also demonstrate milestones in Mainland aviation engineering.
The fly-past of the C919 will begin at 10.30am on December 16, when the aircraft will take off from the airport and fly westwards towards Victoria Harbour. It will then fly around Hong Kong Island twice so that onlookers can view it. The entire flight is scheduled to last 30 minutes, depending on the weather at the time.
The Civil Aviation Department will set up a temporary restricted flying zone over and around Victoria Harbour during the fly-past. Authorities will prohibit activities such as flying drones, model aircraft and kites, and setting up tethered balloons.
The C919 and ARJ21 will be on public display at the Hong Kong International Airport from December 12-17, after which they will head to Shanghai. The C919 is used by China Eastern Airlines and has been in service since earlier this year. The ARJ21 went into service in 2016 and was primarily used by Mainland Chinese Airlines until 2022, when it was to its first foreign customer: the low-cost Indonesian airline TransNusa.
Image credits: Weiming via WikiCommons
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