SHANGHAI, Dec. 11, 2025 — China Eastern Airlines flight MU9179 successfully landed at Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport, situated at an elevation of 1,948.7 meters (6,394 feet), on December 1 at 11:08 a.m. This event marked the official launch of regular commercial services for the C919, China’s inaugural domestically manufactured large civil aircraft, on the Shanghai-Lanzhou route. It also signified the first instance of China Eastern Airlines deploying the C919 to an airport at high altitude.
As of December 1, China Eastern Airlines’ C919 aircraft commenced daily round-trip operations between Shanghai Hongqiao and Lanzhou. The flight schedule is as follows: Flight MU9179 departs Shanghai Hongqiao at 8 a.m., arriving in Lanzhou at 11:15 a.m. The return flight, MU9180, leaves Lanzhou at 12:15 p.m. and lands back at Shanghai Hongqiao at 2:50 p.m.
The introduction of C919 service to Lanzhou underscores China Eastern Airlines’ commitment to broadening the operational footprint of the domestically developed aircraft. Lanzhou serves as a vital transportation, trade, commercial, and cultural hub in western China. The consistent presence of the C919 in the city will not only provide travelers with the opportunity to experience a homegrown jetliner but also contribute fresh impetus to the accelerated opening up and industrial modernization of western China.
A China Eastern Airlines official commented: “The successful maiden flight of the C919 to Lanzhou has, on one hand, extended the aircraft’s operational reach to a crucial transportation center in northwest China, thereby establishing a more comprehensive network for our domestically produced aircraft. On the other hand, this network expansion facilitates the collection of additional flight data for the C919, forming a robust basis for its ongoing performance enhancements.”
Currently, China Eastern Airlines operates a fleet of 13 C919 aircraft, covering 15 routes across 13 cities, including major destinations such as Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Chengdu, Xi’an, and Lanzhou. This strategy has forged a commercial operational model that effectively “connects the East and West, and links the North and South.” Since its initial commercial flight on May 28, 2023, the China Eastern C919 fleet has logged nearly 43,000 safe flight hours, completed over 17,000 commercial flights, and transported more than 2.45 million passengers, maintaining an average passenger load factor exceeding 85 percent.
Source: China Eastern Airlines
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