Engineers reported that all systems operated normally and the aircraft behaved entirely as expected during the run.

A major step forward for green aviation has taken place in China as the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) announced that its locally developed CE-25A electric aircraft has successfully completed its maiden piloted test flight in Binzhou, the eastern province of Shandong.

The state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday (November 14) that the two pilots and a flight test engineer took part in the flight test.

According to the company, the entire test session lasted nearly an hour (57 minutes and 46 seconds), with the plane spending just over 16 minutes actually in the air and covering a distance of 60.4 kilometres.

Engineers reported that all systems operated normally and the aircraft behaved entirely as expected during the run.

This milestone comes after months of uncrewed testing. The CE-25A originally flew by itself for the first time back on February 2, completing 19 autonomous validation flights before getting clearance to put humans on board.

The project is a collaborative effort involving COMAC, major battery producer CATL, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and several other partners.

Now, the aircraft has already cleared a hurdle with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), which formally accepted its application for a type certificate, a mandatory regulatory step before any commercial passenger aircraft can be approved for regular public use.

According to Global Times, the CE-25A is COMAC’s first electric commercial aircraft designed for intercity flights, with a capacity of 19 passengers. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 10 tonnes.

The report further mentioned that the aircraft has a cruising speed of 300 kilometres per hour and a cruising altitude of 2,400 metres. It has a range of 400 kilometres.