The COMAC C919 has flown from Chengdu to Lhasa Gonggar International Airport, located at an altitude of 3,570 meters (11,713 feet).
It is the first time that the domestically developed commercial aircraft has operated from such an elevated airport, in the region known as the “roof of the world.”
The C919, registration B-919G, is meeting an ARJ21 regional jet, which is conducting demonstration flights on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, COMAC said.
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“Flying to Lhasa this time, the C919 aircraft will carry out development flight tests of systems critical to high plateau operation, such as the environmental control system, the avionics system and the power plant system, as well as high plateau airport adaptability checks,” the Chinese planemaker added.
COMAC is developing the C919 Plateau, a smaller variant of the C919 with 140 seats and suitable for high-altitude operations. Tibet Airlines is expected to be its first customer and partner in the project.
The ARJ21, a 90-passenger aircraft that has already had more than 100 units delivered, has been tested on plateau flights since August. To date, COMAC has completed 62 hours of flight in the region, operating on 25 routes since August 21.
