HONG KONG -- A Chinese homegrown passenger jet will make its debut in scheduled services to Hong Kong on New Year's Day, marking a major step for its manufacturer's ambitions to fly beyond the mainland and challenge the industry's U.S.-European duopoly.
The narrow-body C919 -- dubbed dafeiji, meaning "big" or "great airplane" in Mandarin -- is produced by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). With a seating capacity of up to 192 passengers and a maximum range of 5,555 kilometers, the plane is positioned to compete with the Airbus A320 neo and the Boeing 737 Max.
