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Press release

C919 flew to Lhasa for the first time, domestic commercial aircraft gathered on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

19/09/2024

Press releaseIssued by COMAC Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. and published as received — not written by Airframer’s editors.
C919 flew to Lhasa for the first time, domestic commercial aircraft gathered on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
· Photo: COMAC / Xu Bingnan, Wang Jiliang

On September 19, 2024, a C919 plane of China Commercial Aviation Company took off from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Sichuan. After 2 hours and 8 minutes of flight, it landed smoothly at Lhasa Gongga International Airport in Tibet. This is the first time that the C919 aircraft has flown in Lhasa, gathering with the ARJ21 aircraft, which is in the process of demonstration flight, on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the "roof of the world".

Lhasa Gongga International Airport is located in the Yalu Zangbu River Valley, with an altitude of 3,569 meters. There are many surrounding peaks, and the meteorological environment is complex and changeable. It has high requirements for the operation performance of aircraft on the plateau. In this flight to Lhasa, the C919 aircraft will carry out research and development test flights of key systems for high-plateau operation such as environmental control, avigonics and power devices, as well as adaptation inspection of high-plateau airports, laying the foundation for the subsequent needs of high-altitude route operation and high-prototype research and development.

Since August 21, 2024, the ARJ21 aircraft has carried out a demonstration flight of "Around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" with Chengdu, Sichuan, Xining, Qinghai and Lhasa, Tibet as operating bases. Up to now, 25 routes, 55 segments, 62 hours of flight missions have been completed, covering 11 high-altitude airports, and 4 flights to Daocheng Aden Airport, the world's highest civil airport, has been fully verified, fully verifying the adaptability of ARJ21 aircraft to high-altitude operation.

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