China Southern Airlines Flight CZ3813 lands at an airport in Hefei, East China's Anhui Province, on April 26, 2026, making Hefei the 23rd city in the C919's commercial network. Photo: Courtesy of China Southern Airlines

China's domestically developed C919 large passenger jet made its maiden commercial flight from Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province to Hefei, East China's Anhui Province on Sunday, with China Southern Airlines Flight CZ3813 touching down at the destination, making Hefei as the 23rd city in the C919's commercial network.

China Southern, which currently operates 10 C919 aircraft, plans to operate the C919 on this route on a regular basis, the airline told the Global Times on Sunday. 

As the C919 fleet continues to expand, China Southern has concentrated the deployment of its C919 aircraft on major routes including Guangzhou to the cities of Beijing, Wuhan, and Nanjing. 

The airline is steadily growing the C919's operational network - and already, its C919 fleet has completed more than 9,500 flights and transported nearly 1.3 million passengers.

China Southern's push is part of a broader trend, with Chinese airlines busy expanding the C919's domestic network.

On March 29, Air China's C919 made its maiden commercial flights from Beijing to Xiamen in East China's Fujian Province and Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, expanding operations to the southeastern coast and Northeast China. 

On April 15, China Eastern Airlines' C919 completed its inaugural Harbin-Shanghai flight, officially connecting Northeast China with the Yangtze River Delta.

The C919 is no longer a "display piece" appearing occasionally on a specific route. It has become a regular force in China's backbone air route network, just like mainstream aircraft models. The expansion of its routes from Guangzhou to core hubs such as Beijing Daxing, Wuhan, Nanjing, Xi'an, and Hefei demonstrates that the aircraft has proven capable of sustained, reliable operation on major commercial trunk routes, Guo Jia, a veteran market watcher, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

China's aviation authorities have mobilized a range of resources to support European certification of the C919 with steady progress made in recent months, the South China Morning Post reported on April 13, citing multiple sources.

Technicians and pilots from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency have set up shop in Shanghai for more checks and in-flight tests in recent months, according to a source who took part in some technological exchanges with the agency, the report said. 

Global Times