(Yicai) Jan. 2 -- China Eastern Airlines' round-trip flight between Shanghai and Hong Kong has become the first commercial voyage of China's homegrown C919 aircraft to a city outside China's mainland.

Flight MU721 departed from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport with nearly 160 passengers on board and successfully landed in Hong Kong yesterday, Yicai learned.

Hong Kong is now the ninth city to have a regular route served by the C919, a large aircraft developed by Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China. The narrow-body aircraft was developed to compete with the Boeing 737 and Airbus 320. Its maiden commercial flight took place in May 2023.

Liu Tiexian, general manager of Shanghai-based China Eastern, told Yicai that the airline plans to introduce 10 more such aircraft this year, with service expected to expand to additional cities.

Last year, China Eastern received six C919s, bringing its total C919 fleet to 10. Additionally, the two other major state-owned airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines, received their first C919s last year.

Wei Yingbiao, deputy general manager of COMAC, previously revealed that after reaching the milestone of 500,000 passengers on Sept. 2, the cumulative passenger count for the C919 aircraft exceeded one million on Dec. 19, last year.

Yicai has learned that COMAC is pursuing a European certification for the C919. In the second half of last year, a delegation from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency conducted an on-site inspection in Shanghai and provided "positive feedback."

The inspection was the third and most crucial stage of a four-stage certification process by the EASA. Gu Xin, director of an airworthiness certification center under the Civil Aviation Administration of China, told Yicai that according to current plans, the C919 aircraft is expected to obtain EU certification this year.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine