As reported by the web resource ATO.RUThe Chinese regional jet passenger aircraft ARJ21 set a record for annual deliveries - in 2020, 24 aircraft of this type were transferred to airlines manufactured by COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China). This was reported by the Chinese news agencyXinhua.
The first regional jet passenger aircraft ARJ21-700 (registration number B-123A, serial number 140 - the fortieth built aircraft of this type, including prototypes) of the new Chinese airline OTT Airlines (a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines) makes its first flight from Shanghai Hongjiao Airport on 28.12.2020. OTT Airlines received in 2020 the first three of its ARJ21 aircraft, and in total China Eastern Airlines contracted in August 2019 35 arj21s for OTT Airlines with delivery until 2025 (c) Ti Gong / www.shine.cn
This is twice the volume of deliveries of its competitor-the Russian regional jet Superjet 100 (produced by UAC as part of Rostec).
In 2020, five Chinese airlines became new operators of ARJ21: Air China, China Southern Airlines, Jiangxi Air, OTT Airlines ("daughter" of China Eastern Airlines) and China Express Airlines. As of the end of last year, COMAC has delivered a total of 46 aircraft of this type to seven operators. According to the Chinese manufacturer of civil aircraft, since the beginning of operation, 1.6 million passengers have been transported on the ARJ21.
The launch operator of ARJ21 was a subsidiary of COMAC-Chengdu Airlines, which received the first aircraft in 2015 and began its commercial operation in mid-2016, 14 years after the official launch of the program. Over the next three years, this benchmark carrier single-handedly helped parent COMAC build after-sales support and overcome the" childhood illnesses " of ARJ21. The second operator appeared only in 2019 - the private airline Genghis Khan Airlines.
The pace of deliveries of the aircraft increases from year to year: in 2017, two aircraft were delivered, 6 - in 2018, 12 - in 2019 and finally 24 - in the past. According to the plan announced in 2017, the manufacturer should produce 25 aircraft per year by 2020.
The ARJ21, China's first self-developed civil jet, is equipped with American General Electric CF34-10 engines and, depending on the layout, is designed to carry from 70 to 115 passengers for a flight range of 2.2 thousand to 3.7 thousand km.
According to COMAC, the order book includes 616 aircraft from 23 operators.
