China's homegrown C919 jetliner sees surging orders while expanding regular routes

One year after its first commercial flight, China's self-developed large passenger aircraft, C919, has experienced a surge in orders as it is expanding regular routes.

China's domestically developed C919 passenger jet took off at 10:32 on May 28, 2023 at the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport with some 130 passengers on board.

The 2.25-meter-high cabin aisle is spacious and comfortable for passengers, providing ample visual field ahead of them.

The plane received a water salute after touching down at the Beijing Capital International Airport at 12:31 on May 28, 2023.

Since the second day after its successful maiden commercial flight, the C919 has commenced regular commercial operations between the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and the Chengdu Tianfu International Airport on May 29, 2023. Over the following six months, the second, third, and fourth C919 aircraft have been delivered and put into service.

The C919 commenced operation on a new route connecting the megacities of Beijing and Shanghai on January 9 this year. This marks the second regular route for the C919, following the previously launched Shanghai Hongqiao-Chengdu Tianfu route.

Chinese passenger jet C919 debuted in a flight demonstration at the Singapore Airshow in February this year.

On March 2 this year, the fifth C919 aircraft was delivered and put into service, marking the completion of China Eastern Airlines' initial batch of orders.

The flight MU2152, operated by China Eastern Airlines, took off from the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport at around 08:40 on March 8 and departed for the Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, marking the launch of the third regular route for the C919.

The sixth C919 jetliner joined the China Eastern Airlines fleet on Tuesday, indicating the acceleration of commercial operation of China's homegrown large passenger aircraft.

This came one year after the first commercial flight of C919 was made.

The aircraft, delivered to China Eastern on Monday, landed at the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on Tuesday morning after a short flight from Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

As of May 27, China Eastern Airlines' C919 fleet has completed 2,181 commercial flight trips, accumulating 6,090 safe flight hours and transporting more than 276,000 passengers.

More than 1,000 orders have been placed worldwide for the jet so far, according to the manufacturer, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC).

China's homegrown C919 jetliner sees surging orders while expanding regular routes

China’s first intelligent field plant phenotype precision identification platform went into operation recently in Sanya City, south China’s Hainan Province, which is a milestone in the country’s development of intelligent breeding.

The phenotype of a plant is a term used to describe observable characteristics of the plant, such as its appearance, and some inherent physiological characteristics, such as resistance to drought and diseases.

In an experimental field of the National Nanfan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, a large piece of equipment is moving across the field. The equipment, called the field plant phenotype precision identification platform, can move according to the preset track and can be remotely controlled. While moving, the equipment can scan the plants with its six sensors, just like a CT machine for plants.

"The ultimate goal is to achieve high-throughput, large-scale, efficient and precise collection of germplasm resources, which can be four to five times higher than the efficiency of the traditional manual collection," said Jin Xiuliang, a researcher at the institute.

Although the equipment looks simple from the outside, it contains six high-precision image acquisition devices such as multi-spectral, thermal infrared, and chlorophyll fluorescence devices. Data can be collected at fixed times and points according to experimental needs, and the collection of a germplasm material can be completed within 30 seconds.

After the data collected through this platform is transmitted to the data analysis center, researchers can more quickly and accurately screen out germplasm resources with excellent traits, laying the foundation for subsequent crop breeding.

"The plant phenotype identification facility at the National Nanfan Research Institute is a milestone in the field of crop science in China. It can greatly enhance the independent innovation capabilities of germplasm innovation, gene mining, and variety breeding, and enhance the international competitiveness of China's seed industry," said Li Huihui, vice president of the institute.  

China makes major progress in smart crop breeding