The ARJ21 arrives for China's big three!

Photo COMAC

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has announced the delivery of three brand new ARJ21 aircraft to three of China's biggest airlines in a special joint delivery ceremony.

The ARJ21 first entered commercial operations around four years ago and is China’s first home-produced commercial passenger jet.  ARJ21 aircraft is a new turbofan regional jet independently developed by China and thus far a total of 28 ARJ21 aircraft have been delivered to and operated by three commercial customers including Chengdu Airlines, Genghis Khan Airlines and Jiangxi Air. Up to now, ARJ21 aircraft have successively operated in more than 55 routes in more than 55 cities in the regions such as North China, Northeast China and Southwest China, and carried more than 860,000 passengers.

Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines have now received the aircraft, which has a seating capacity of between 78 to 90 and a range of 2,225 to 3,700 kilometres.

Earlier this month COMAC confirmed an order for 100 aircraft, split between the ARJ21 and larger C919 models from China Express Airlines, with deliveries for the smaller aircraft to start towards the end of this year.

Recommended for you...

IPO for China Express fleet expansion

China Express Airlines has secured approval for an initial public offering (IPO) to expand its fleet, becoming the first regional carrier in China to launch an IPO.

The Guiyang-based carrier plans to collect CNY1.4 billion ($215 million) to buy six Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft, three engines and build a flight training centre.

Launched in 2006, China Express set up five domestic bases, comprising Guiyang, Chongqing, Dalian, Hohhot and Xi’an. The company operates 26 CRJ900s on more than 70 domestic routes. Of these, 95% are regional routes, which account for 11% of Chinese regional routes.