COMAC: Route Expansion + Flying Eye Hospital
Airlines launch new seasonal routes; flying eye hospital advance.
COMAC announced that its C919 and C909 aircraft will expand into new routes during the summer-autumn flight season, which begins March 29.
China Eastern Airlines, which operates 14 C919 jets, will add a Xi’an–Xiamen route with three daily round trips and seasonally resume Shanghai Hongqiao–Shenyang.
The airline’s C919 network will cover 16 airports across 14 cities, including Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Wuhan, and Hong Kong.
Air China will deploy its C919 on the Beijing Capital–Xiamen Gaoqi route starting March 29, with one daily round trip. The carrier will also launch a Beijing Capital–Harbin Taiping route with two daily round trips, bringing its total C919 routes to 11.
China Southern has taken delivery of 10 C919 aircraft and currently operates regular commercial services on 10 routes linking Guangzhou with Beijing Daxing, Xi’an, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, Changsha, Wuhan, and Wenzhou, as well as Changsha with Beijing Daxing and Shanghai Pudong, reaching 21 major domestic cities.
For the C909 model, more than 180 units have been delivered to airlines in China and abroad. China Southern will continue to operate around 60 domestic C909 routes from its bases in Guangzhou, Jieyang Chaoshan, and Wuhan.
China Eastern will introduce the C909 to the Gansu market, with three routes from Lanzhou, including two new ones — Lanzhou–Qingyang–Nanchang and Lanzhou–Longnan–Nanchang, as well as a Lanzhou–Ordos route.
Urumqi Air, which has taken delivery of two C909s, will add a direct Fuyun–Yining route in the new season to enhance regional connectivity in Xinjiang.
C909 Medical Aircraft
In a separate development, COMAC announced that the C909 medical aircraft, bearing registration B-3328 and operated by China Flying Dragon General Aviation Co., Ltd. (中国飞龙通用航空有限公司), has completed its first medical flight charity mission in Bo’ao, a coastal town in the city of Qionghai, Hainan.
The March 19 mission was conducted in collaboration with the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center of Sun Yat-sen University to perform onboard surgeries at Qionghai Bo’ao International Airport as part of the “Hainan Free Trade Port Brightness Action” charity initiative.
Medical teams carried out one scleral buckling procedure, five cataract surgeries, and two intravitreal injections inside the cabin.
According to Sun Yat-sen University, the mission employed an air-ground coordination model.
A 5G intelligent ophthalmic mobile clinic operated by the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center conducted preliminary screenings in townships including Tanmen and Dalu, covering more than 600 residents.
Patients requiring surgery underwent preoperative examinations at Qionghai People’s Hospital before boarding the aircraft for onboard procedures. Among the first eight patients, several were over 70 years old and had limited mobility, Sun Yat-sen University said.
According to Lin Haotian, Director of the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, future plans include using the C909 medical aircraft as a platform to develop mobile tertiary hospital capabilities, integrate 5G remote transmission and AI diagnostic systems, and establish training programs for medical staff.
The center also aims to develop operational standards for flying eye hospitals that can be replicated in other regions.
COMAC added that the C909 medical aircraft is intended to support a three-tier system covering domestic, regional, and international operations.
Based on the Hainan experience, the company and its partners aim to replicate the model in other regions, including tourist destinations in Tibet, Shandong, Northeast China, and the northwest Silk Road areas, with the goal of providing high-end air ambulance services and enhancing emergency medical response capabilities.
The C909 medical aircraft is based on COMAC’s regional jet platform and is designed with a maximum payload of 10 tons (about 22,000 lb) and a range of up to 3,700 km (about 2,300 miles).
It is capable of operating from high-altitude airports; the cabin can be reconfigured for different scenarios, with a passenger area in the front and two medical stretcher stations equipped with defibrillators, ventilators, and infusion pumps in the rear.
(See my AIN article: China’s Comac Offers Alternative to Western Business Jets).
The aircraft obtained certification under Part 135, Chapter D in February, qualifying it for commercial medical evacuation and emergency rescue services.
The C909 airborne hospital conducted its first flight in September 2025 to Shihezi, Xinjiang. Since then, the platform has progressed from basic diagnosis to onboard surgical capability.
Surgeries have already been performed on patients from regions including Yili in Xinjiang and Guizhou, with post-operation recovery reported as stable.
On February 11, COMAC announced that a C909 medical aircraft has begun its first overseas public welfare medical mission in Laos, marking the type’s debut in international humanitarian operations.
The mission coincided with the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Laos and the launch of the China-Laos Friendship Year.
The development of China’s domestically operated flying eye hospital draws on a historical reference — in 1982, the world’s first ophthalmic flying hospital, operated by Orbis International, visited Guangzhou at the invitation of ophthalmologists from what is now the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, conducting 18 days of eye care services and training.