BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- China has seen remarkable progress of the independently-developed ARJ21 regional jetliner with continuous deliveries and expanded commercial operations.
The following facts and figures offer a glimpse of the civil aircraft model and its latest performance in the market:
-- The ARJ21 is China's first turbofan regional passenger jetliner. Designed with a capacity of 78 to 90 seats and a range of 3,700 km, it can fly in alpine and plateau regions and adapt to varying airport conditions.
-- As a pioneer of Chinese commercial airplanes, the ARJ21 aircraft was put into commercial service in June 2016 by Chengdu Airlines.
-- On June 28 this year, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) delivered one ARJ21 each for the country's three major carriers: Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines.
These deliveries marked the arrival of the homegrown jetliner in the domestic mainstream civil aviation market.
-- As of November, the COMAC, developer of ARJ21, had delivered a total of 40 ARJ21 airplanes to customers.
-- As of November, ARJ21 planes had been used on 86 routes connecting 64 cities and served more than 1.31 million passengers in commercial operations, according to COMAC.
-- Air China, China's flag carrier, received its third ARJ21 regional jetliner on Nov. 30.
-- China Express Airlines, a Chinese private regional carrier, received its first ARJ21 regional jetliner on Nov. 10. The plane will sustain the airline's progress in regional air transport.
In early November, China Express signed an agreement with COMAC on purchasing 100 airplanes, among which 50 will be the ARJ21. The other 50 will be the ARJ21 series or C919 trunk jetliners in accordance with follow-up agreements. Enditem
A single purchase
