The C919, developed by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, sits at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, Dec 9, 2022. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The C919, a single-aisle aircraft designed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd, completed its first commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing on May 28, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market.

Launched in 2007, the C919 project saw its first aircraft roll off the production line in 2015. In 2017, the model had its first successful maiden flight.

Zhejiang has played a significant role in the development of large domestic aircraft.

In 1933, the government invested in the Central Aircraft Factory Hangzhou Company, which became a renowned Central (Hangzhou) Aircraft Factory in the Republic of China as well as  the most modern, advanced and largest aircraft factory at that time.

Jin Zhuanglong, the current Minister of Industry and Information Technology, was born in Zhoushan and served as chairman of ComAC from 2012 to 2017. He oversaw the development and test flights of the large C919 aircraft.

The C919's two doors—the RAT door and the APU door—are authentic Zhejiang products, produced by Zhejiang Xizi UHC.

"We feel very lucky that the C919 has brought us into the aviation sector, "said Wang Shuifu, Co-chairman of Xizi UHC, the only private company among the nine airframe suppliers identified by ComAC.

These two hatch door projects involve more than 30 special aviation technologies. The manufacturing work is very demanding due to its complex structure and technological content.

Hu Tengfei works as a door assembly technician for the C919. [Photo provided to ehangzhou.gov.cn]

Hu Tengfei, 31, from Lin'an district, Hangzhou, graduated from Hangzhou Vocational & Technical College in 2015 and is now a door assembly technician for the C919 passenger jet. He was one of the first vocational students recruited by Xizi UHC.

Hu gives an example of how difficult it is to produce aircraft parts: if the allowable margin of error of aircraft parts at school is 0.1 mm, the accuracy required in the aircraft production workshop is 0.001 mm, almost 100 times more precise.

The C919 plane has been put into regular service by China Eastern Airlines, flying between Shanghai and Chengdu, Sichuan province. The airline says that with new planes arriving, they will gradually operate the model on more routes.