This Day, That Year: Aug 1

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On Aug 1, 1950, the Civil Aviation Administration of China began scheduled operations, which marked the start of the country's air transportation service.

Since then, the booming Chinese market has attracted overseas jet manufacturers.

In 1972, China ordered 10 Boeing 707 jets, which heralded Boeing's presence in the country.

In 1985, the first Airbus aircraft was delivered to China Eastern Airlines.

In 1987, the State Council, China's Cabinet, released a plan to reform the civil aviation system, ending the monopoly of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Under the plan, six national airline companies would be set up to compete with the 17 domestic airlines already established at that time.

An item on Dec 21, 1991, in China Daily showed Air China's Steward Training Center in operation in Beijing.

After decades of development, China has about 60 air transportation companies, more than 3,600 aircraft, over 400 general aviation airlines and 235 airports by the end of 2018.

Last year, China's civil aviation industry handled 610 million passenger trips and about 7.4 million metric tons of air cargo, year-on-year increases of 11.4 percent and 4.6 percent respectively. Beijing Capital International Airport has the second-highest level of passenger traffic in the world, while Shanghai Pudong International Airport is the third-largest by cargo traffic.

China's civil aviation market is expected to see passenger volume reach 1.6 billion by 2037, according to the International Air Transport Association. The number was just 2.3 million in 1978.

Meanwhile, the country has successfully developed and produced jets domestically, including the ARJ21, which rolled off the assembly line in Shanghai in 2007, and the homegrown large passenger plane, the C919, which took to the air in Shanghai in 2017. The twin-engine, single-aisle C919 is comparable with the updated Airbus 320 and Boeing's new generation 737 aircraft.