China’s three major airlines receive domestically produced ARJ21 aircraft

BEIJING / SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s three largest state airlines on Sunday received their first ARJ21 aircraft, a 90-seat short-haul aircraft manufactured by the China Commercial Aircraft Corporation (COMAC).

COMAC said in a statement on Sunday that Air China Ltd (601111.SS), China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd (600115.SS) and China Southern Airlines Co Ltd (600029.SS) had received the aircraft, which has a capacity of 90 seats, and each would receive three ARJ21 aircraft this year.

Last August, the three carriers announced the same day offers for each purchase of 35 COMAC regional ARJ21-700 aircraft, with deliveries scheduled from 2020 to 2024.

The ARJ21 entered commercial operations four years ago and is China’s first domestically manufactured passenger jet.

COMAC has two other passenger jet programs under development: the C919 narrow-body aircraft program currently undergoing flight tests and the CR929 wide-body program in collaboration with Russia.

Earlier this year, China Eastern Airlines launched a subsidiary, OTT Airlines, to operate the ARJ21 and C919 aircraft. It is slated to be the first customer of the C919, once the 160-seater plane receives airworthiness certification from the Chinese aviation regulator.

The C919 is a much more prominent program that will place COMAC in direct competition with Airbus (AIR.PA) and Boeing (PROHIBITION) in the single aisle market. Earlier this year, the United States considered whether or not to block sales of LEAP-1C engines to the program, but then relented.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on international travel has decimated Airbus and Boeing order books.