(Yicai) Sept. 10 -- Air China's first C919 large passenger plane has completed its maiden commercial flights on a domestic route.

The aircraft took off from Beijing Capital International Airport at 11.06 a.m. today and landed at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport at 1.00 p.m., according to a representative of Air China.

The Beijing-based airline will operate four flights per day with the C919, a round trip between Beijing and Shanghai, and then one between the Chinese capital city and Hangzhou, the representative noted.

The C919 Air China received on Aug. 28 is an extended range version, while China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines got the basic version, the representative pointed out.

The C919 ER version has a maximum takeoff weight of 78.8 tons, engine thrusts of 30,000 pounds, a full-load flight range of 2,000 nautical miles, up by 700 nautical miles from the basic model, and a maximum flight duration of five hours, up by 1.7 hours from the basic model.

Air China is expected to receive two more C919 this year, one next month and one in December. With three such planes, the carrier will open more routes to cities including Chengdu in southwestern Sichuan province.

China Southern also received its first C919 on Aug. 28. The inaugural flight of China Southern's C919 is scheduled for Sept. 19 on the Guangzhou-Shanghai route. The carrier is also expected to receive two more such planes this year.

Since its first commercial flight on May 28 last year, C919 aircraft have accumulated over 10,000 hours of safe flight, executed more than 3,700 commercial flights, and transported over 500,000 passengers, according to the plane's developer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China.  

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione