China’s first domestic regional jet gets airworthiness certificate

ARJ21-700 set to start being delivered in 2015

China's first homemade regional jet obtained the national regulator's nod for a certificate of airworthiness on Tuesday, a crucial step for the jet to enter the commercial market.

The ARJ21-700 aircraft, a type of regional airliner with between 78 and 90 seats, was produced by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), and received the certificate after a series of examinations by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The first ARJ21-700 jet was designed and manufactured between 2003 and 2007 and made its first test flight in November 2008. Since then, the jet has completed more than 5,000 hours of test flights, and has been flown in the hottest and coldest regions in China to test its performance in special weather conditions.

In April 2014, the jet successfully completed a natural icing flight test in North America, and also underwent testing of the anti-icing and de-icing function of wings, windshield, and engine nacelles, according to media reports.

A total of 300 ground examinations and more than 1,141 hours of test flights were carried out after the CAAC started the jet's certification process in 2012, the CAAC said.

However, insiders confessed that winning the certificate of airworthiness is the first step for the airplane to compete in the market.

"Winning the certification is the success of the technology, but it is not the end of the process," said Luo Rong-huai, vice president of COMAC and head of the ARJ21 project, quoted by Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday.

It will take time to improve the model's design, systems and operations before its entry into the market, and the jet still needs to gain brand recognition and market share, and eventually bring profit to the airlines that use it, he said.

According to Luo, COMAC plans to start delivering the plane in 2015. The first ARJ21-700 will go to Chengdu Airlines. COMAC data showed that the jet currently has 278 orders.

"It is a good thing to see the progress of the ARJ21," Lin Zhijie, an independent market analyst, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

However, he noted that the market is now shared by more competitors from Embraer S.A in Brazil, and Bombardier in Canada, and more countries such as Japan and Russia are striving for the jet market.

On Thursday, Zhou Laizhen, vice chief of CAAC, said at a meeting that, the CAAC will enhance the aviation market development in central and western China, and boost the regional aviation market.

To show support for the ARJ21, Li Jiaxiang, head of CAAC, flew on the airplane from Shanghai to Beijing on Tuesday.