ARJ21 aircraft officially join fleets of Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines

China National Aviation Holding Corporation Limited, China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited and China Southern Airlines Company Limited respectively received their first ARJ21 aircraft at Pudong base of the Assembly Manufacturing Center of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) on June 28th, 2020. The simultaneous delivery of the three aircraft marks the official entry of ARJ21 aircraft into the fleets of international mainstream airlines.

Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines has carried out characterized aircraft selection according to their market demand in combination with their own fleet planning and route layout, and sent experienced engineering representatives to perform strict supervision over the aircraft manufacturing process. The three ARJ21 aircraft delivered to Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines this time are in all economy-class cabin configuration with seats for 90 passengers. Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines will respectively receive three ARJ21 aircraft in succession this year.

Air China has gone all out to complete all the preparations for the introduction of ARJ21 aircraft. ARJ squadron of Air China aerocade was officially established on December 16th, 2019 to make all-round efforts from the aspects such as fleet construction, transition training, personnel reserve and logistics support; maintenance, flight attendant and ground units set up program teams to focus on the implementation of specific work in each link; at the same time, backbones with outstanding technology, solid theoretical knowledge and rich experience on each post were selected to establish business connection with COMAC, and make solid progress in various operational preparations. The introduction of ARJ21 aircraft will provide greater support for Air China to further expand its route network, optimize its fleet structure and enhance its competitive strength.

Relying on its geographical advantage in Shanghai, China Eastern Airlines has strengthened its resource sharing and mode innovation and set up OTT Airlines on February 26th this year to start a new journey of market-oriented operation of China-made aircraft. OTT Airlines has taken Shanghai Hongqiao Airport as the operation base, mainly operated China-made commercial aircraft such as ARJ21 and C919, adhered to the mode of combining trunk and regional lines, and built an industry-wide, full-service, convenient and efficient aviation service network to promote the large-scale operation of China-made commercial aircraft. As the parent company, China Eastern Airlines will give full play to its advantages, give strong support to OTT Airlines, fully display the safe operation quality and advanced design of ARJ21 in operation, bring comfortable flight experience for passengers, and help China-made commercial aircraft fly higher, more steadily, farther and better.

In order to ensure the smooth operation of the first ARJ21 aircraft, China Southern Airlines has made careful preparations from multiple aspects such as support process, personal qualifications and operation safety, and completed relevant pilot and flight attendant transition training and other preparatory work successively. China Southern Airlines will give full play to its advantages of large fleet operation support and networked market, and strive to ensure good support, good operation and good development of ARJ21 aircraft. The early consideration is to deploy operation at Guangzhou headquarters, and optimize the support scheme to ensure orderly operation based on the strongest maintenance and operation capabilities of China Southern Airlines. In addition, by putting ARJ21 aircraft into operation in succession, China Southern Airlines will rapidly accumulate experience in operating China-made commercial aircraft, continuously optimize and improve the reliability and economy of China-made commercial aircraft, and bring "friendly and refined" service experience for passengers.

COMAC has insisted on the principle of being customer centered, sought increasing perfection, actively listened to the suggestions of the three airlines on product optimization, management improvement and customer service improvement, fully promoted the work such as manufacturing, operation support, special personnel training and material support, and continually improved ARJ21 aircraft customer service system and operation support system, in order to provide support for aircraft delivery and the smooth operation of subsequent routes.

Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines have large fleets, extensive network coverage and abundant operating experience. After introduction, ARJ21 aircraft will play a positive role in promoting the operation of regional aircraft, exploring an aviation development mode that combines trunk and regional lines and is suitable for China's actual conditions, and building a more accessible and smooth air transport network. As more and more ARJ21 aircraft has entered into the market, the popularization strategy of China civil aviation will be promoted to continually meet the growing travel demand of the public. (Photographer: Xu Bingnan)