Regular C919 flights to and from HK

CHINA Eastern Airlines yesterday started using China’s home-produced C919 jetliner for regular flights between Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Flight MU721 carrying 157 passengers took off from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport at 8:21 a.m., marking the inauguration of the route.

It makes China Eastern Airlines the first airline to use the C919 for scheduled commercial flights to Hong Kong. The company plans to conduct daily round-trip flights.

Being the first customer of C919, China Eastern has purchased a total of 105 C919 aircraft from the jetliner’s manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), and the Shanghai-based airliner currently operates the largest C919 fleet globally.

The launch of the regular flight would make Hong Kong the ninth city where China Eastern’s C919 fleet is operated after Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Guangzhou, Taiyuan and Wuhan.

Fatal car accident

HONG KONG Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident in Mong Kok that killed three men in the small hours yesterday.

The accident occurred at about 1:44 a.m. on West Kowloon Highway. A taxi, driven by a 65-year-old man with a 23-year-old male passenger and a 19-year-old female passenger on board, reportedly cut the lane and collided with a private car running on the next lane. The private car then lost control, rammed into a curb, and crashed into another taxi on the road and three other private cars parked on the roadside.

Sustaining serious multiple injuries, the private car driver was pronounced dead at scene. Two passengers, aged 33 and 34, were rushed to a nearby hospital but died soon after.

Four others caught in the accident were being treated for back and limb injuries.

The taxi driver was arrested for dangerous driving and the case is under investigation.