The first C919, China's first domestically-developed narrow-body passenger jet, was delivered to China Eastern Airlines in Shanghai on Friday morning, and it is expected to be put into commercial operation in early 2023.

At Shanghai Pudong International Airport, C919's manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corp of China delivered the aircraft sales certificate and the commemorative key to China Eastern. The Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the airworthiness certificate to the airline.

As the first such model globally, China Eastern also needs to carry out more than 100 hours of testing flights to verify and confirm the operational safety, maintenance reliability and various operational support capabilities of the aircraft.