Arriving at his gate at Beijing Capital International Airport for a routine business trip to the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar on Wednesday, Howard Deng was unaware he was about to take part in a Chinese aviation milestone. Air China flight 723 marked the first international service featuring the domestically produced C919 narrowbody jet from Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), central to Beijing’s ambition to challenge the global duopoly of Boeing and Airbus. As one of 111...