(Yicai) Sept. 2 -- China’s self-developed C919 large airplane has transported 500,000 passengers since it began commercial flight operation 15 months ago.

The C919’s 500,000th passenger boarded in Chengdu on a China Eastern Airlines flight headed to Shanghai yesterday, the plane’s developer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China announced on the same day. The passenger received a model of the C919 signed by the captain and chief purser.

Since May 28 last year, C919 jets have operated more than 3,700 commercial flights over 10,000 hours, according to COMAC.

China Eastern received its first C919 on Dec. 9, 2022. Since then, the carrier has received seven such planes, which now operate on five premium routes between Shanghai and Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Xi’an, and between the Chinese capital city and Xi’an.

During the summer travel peak in July and August, China Eastern’s C919 fleet operated 1,145 commercial flights and transported 160,000 passengers, with an average load factor of 86 percent.

On Aug. 29, China’s two other major state-owned carriers -- Air China and China Southern Airlines -- received their first C919 aircraft from COMAC, and set to become new operators of the homemade jumbo jet soon.

Editor: Futura Costaglione