An Airbus A-319 made its first successful trial flight over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau on Friday.

This would be the second such type of plane to join the fleet of Air China, which has contracted with Airbus to purchase eight A-319 planes.

After the trial flight, the aircraft will first return to an Airbus plant in Hamburg, Germany, for adjustments before being handed over to Air China in a couple of weeks.

The first A-319 plane made its first flight for Air China on July 16, and is operated by Air China's Zhejiang Branch.

Airbus has been steadily expanding its China business since entering the country in 1985. Currently, 180 Airbus aircraft are operating on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao.

(China Daily July 27, 2003)