ARJ21 makes maiden commercial flight from Chengdu to Shanghai
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E-mail CNTV, June 29, 2016
Domestic air travel in China is taking off to new heights. The country's first domestically produced regional jet, the ARJ-21, has made its first commercial flight from Chengdu to Shanghai.
Ready for take off. The ARJ-21, is making its maiden commercial flight from Chengdu. This marks the entry of the first Chinese-designed commercial jet into service.
The Chengdu Airlines flight departed Tuesday morning with 70 passengers onboard. It landed in Shanghai two hours later, and then made the return to Chengdu.
The jet can seat 90, and has a range of 2,000 kilometers, making it ideal for domestic flights.
"It fills the gaps in China's jet industry over the past 20 years, in sectors such as research and development, marketing and mass production, product resources and customer service," ARJ-21 chief designer Wu Xingshi said.
The ARJ-21 program started in 2002. The first test flight was 6 years later. 5,000 hours of test flights were conducted to ensure safety before the jet was put into commercial use.
"This is the longest record in the world. Passenger safety is vital. We mustn't lower the bar on standards," Chief test pilot Zhao Peng said.
The ARJ-21 will be flying round trips from Shanghai to Chengdu every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. A second ARJ-21 is expected to be delivered to Chengdu Airlines in August.
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