Macau welcomed yesterday for the first time the nation’s homegrown passenger aircraft C919, with the jet arriving at the local airport in the morning and being greeted with a “ceremonial water salute” – the highest form of aviation etiquette symbolising respect of and recognition for a pilot’s career and contributions to aviation.
Adorned with the five-star red flag, the plane landed smoothly at Macau International Airport at 10:05 a.m. yesterday.
At the invitation of the organiser of the 13th Macau Business Aviation Exhibition, the jet – a narrow-body airliner developed by state-owned aerospace manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) – is on display at the airport for three consecutive days starting today, making it one of the highlights of the exhibition.
Being parked in a designated area of the airport for static display, the exhibition organisers, including Nam Kwong (Group) Company Limited, China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CASC), Melco International Development Limited, and the Association of Macao Convention & Exhibition Organisers, said in a statement that invited representatives of the aviation industry from Macau and beyond, youth groups and community organisations will be allowed to board the jet.
In honour of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the 25th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland, the statement noted, the organisers are holding a C919-themed photo competition between today and Sunday, inviting members of the public to witness and record the historic moment of the aircraft’s visit to Macau.
Yesterday’s ceremony was addressed by Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário and Macau Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) President Pun Wa Kin, as well as State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) Publicity Department Deputy Director Wang Ying, among other representatives and senior officials.
Rosário and Pun presented flower bouquets to the crew and staff to congratulate them on the flight.
Clad in the Chinese national flag, the C919 China’s domestically produced airliner, Air China B-919Y, is COMAC’s second C919 aircraft received by Air China, “its energy consumption is no less than that of the current mainstream airliners, such as the Airbus A320 family and the Boeing 737”, Hao Xin, deputy head of the Air China C919 flight team, told reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony.
Xinhua quoted Hao as saying that “this is the first time the C919 has flown the Macau route, and I’m especially proud to bring the homegrown aircraft to the people here.”
According to Hao, Air China received its first C919 aircraft on August 29 this year, which has already made successful flights on the Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Hangzhou routes and will be expanded to the Beijing-Wuhan routes next.
Xinhua said that not only did yesterday’s flight mark the first visit of the C919 jetliner to Macau but also its inaugural flight since the delivery of the B-919Y aircraft to Air China.
Meanwhile, the exhibition is being held at the airport’s FBO north restricted area, featuring more than 10 public aircraft, helicopters and eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft).
A homegrown C919 aircraft arrives at the local airport, greeted by the civil aviation industry’s traditional “water salute”. Air China’s B-919Y aircraft arrived here yesterday morning, marking the first visit of the nation’s homegrown C919 jetliner to Macau, as well as the inaugural flight since the delivery of the B-919Y aircraft to Air China. – Xinhua
