Addendum
China’s home-grown ARJ21 finally takes off
July 1st 2016
After a 14-year program and so many delays that it no longer matters, China’s Asian Regional Jet for the 21st century, the ARJ21-700, made its maiden revenue flight with launch customer, Chengdu Airlines, on June 28. Read More » The aircraft, carrying 70 passengers, flew from Chengdu to Shanghai’s Hongqiao airport and return, a service the western Chinese airline said it would operate three times a week. It also will fly the aircraft to Shenzhen, Nanjing and several smaller cities in western China.
The ARJ21 is China’s first homegrown jet aircraft and is aimed at China’s domestic airlines. It was developed to compete with global aircraft manufacturers, particularly Canada’s Bombardier and Brazil’s Embraer. China also has a full size jet under development, the C919, with an eye to taking some of the future market share of Airbus and Boeing in China and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China certified the ARJ21 in late 2014. Development of the jet started in 2002 with the aircraft scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2007. It is equipped with many components that are the same as those built for the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and Douglas DC 9 airliners.
Chengdu Airlines, which is expected to receive two more ARJ21s this year, received the aircraft from its manufacturer, the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, last November. It has orders for 30 of the aircraft.
