China’s C919 passenger jets to enter service on first international route

Planes, operated by national carrier Air China, will start flying between Beijing and the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar on Aug 12, making one flight from each city every day, according to state news agency Xinhua.The plane has already been making regular commercial flights to and from Hong Kong, its first non-mainland destination.China Eastern Airlines started using the plane on the Shanghai-Hong Kong route in January last year, while Air China began operating the C919 on its Beijing-Hong Kong service in November.Produced by the state-owned manufacturer Comac, the single-aisle plane is China's alternative to Boeing and Airbus's narrowbody jets that currently dominate the commercial market.The massive state-backed effort to develop the plane was approved in 2007, with the first aircraft rolling off the production line in Shanghai in 2015.More than 300,000 people were involved in the project, according to the government, along with over 1,000 businesses, universities, and research institutions.