COMAC delivered one ARJ21 aircraft each to Chengdu Airlines and China Southern on June 28th at its aircraft delivery center in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province of China, making the total number of ARJ21 aircraft delivered now 68.

COMAC meticulously picked the date of June 28th to deliver its first two ARJ21 in 2022 because, six years ago, on June 28th of 2016, the first ARJ21 (B-3321) was put into commercial operations by its launch customer, Chengdu Airlines.

The date of June 28th is a kind of COMAC's special day. On June 28th, 2020, COMAC made its historical delivery of three ARJ21, and each is the first ARJ21 delivered to Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern, three major central government-owned airlines.

Chengdu Airlines' new ARJ21 has a special livery

The launch customer of the ARJ21, Chengdu Airlines, also owns the biggest ARJ21 fleet of 24 aircraft after receiving the latest one yesterday with a special livery.

The ARJ21 (B-652G) delivered to Chengdu Airlines yesterday was named "Jin Sha," which is a well-known archeological site in Chengdu, representing the ancient culture of southwest China.

The General Manager of Chengdu Airlines, Zha Guangyi, attended the delivery ceremony and personally flew the newly delivered ARJ21 back to Chengdu. He also said after the delivery,

"After years of efforts, Chengdu Airlines has been gradually established the ARJ21 operation network, connecting and covering most of the domestic areas, as well as launching international route from Harbin to Vladivostok. Chengdu Airlines has established a good brand of China made commercial aircraft and will continuously commit to promote the development of regional air transport in China."

Since receiving its first ARJ21 in 2015, Chengdu Airlines has received 31 ARJ21 aircraft; however, COMAC has brought back 7 of them since 2020 for various reasons (cargo-configuration change, charter service, etc.), making the current Chengdu Airlines' ARJ21 fleet stand at 24 aircraft.

According to Chengdu Airlines, its ARJ21 fleet has transported more than 3 million passengers. The ARJ21 operation network includes 140 scheduled routes and seven overnight bases, reaching more than 80 cities.

China Southern's 8th ARJ21 and first one this year

Yesterday was also the 2nd anniversary of China Southern's first ARJ21 delivery. Since its first delivery, China Southern has received three ARJ21 in 2020 and another four in 2021.

China Southern planned to complete its contract and receive 35 ARJ21 by the end of 2025, making the ARJ21 fleet one of its main operational aircraft types.

China Southern has launched 13 ARJ21 routes, mainly covering the east and south China region, although some industry experts comment that ARJ21 is ideally suited to one of China Southern's dominant markets, Xinjiang.

Since the first delivery, China Southern has carried out nearly 3,800 passenger flights using ARJ21, with a total of more than 6,000 flight hours.

COMAC's Nanchang aircraft delivery center

COMAC started to build its Nanchang aircraft delivery center next to Yaohu Airport in 2019. The first ARJ21 delivery from the new delivery center was to Jiangxi Air, a local previously all-Boeing fleet airline and a subsidiary of China Southern, in January 2020.

Yesterday was the first time China Southern received an ARJ21 from the Nanchang delivery center. Previously, only Jiangxi Air and Air China have come to Nanchang to receive the ARJ21.

COMAC's ARJ21 now has eight domestic airline customers: Chengdu Airlines, Air China, China Eastern (through OTT Airlines), China Southern, Jiangxi Air, China Express, Genghis Khan Airlines, and CFGAC. One interesting fact is that, after COMAC brought back the ARJ21, one went to its own charter service, COMAC Express.

Aviation enthusiasts have spotted an ARJ21 with TransNusa's livery, an Indonesian carrier, at COMAC's FAL next to Shanghai Pudong Airport earlier this year, making TransNusa the most potentially prominent foreign customer for the ARJ21.

ARJ21 delivery milestones

The number of ARJ21delivered by year

What do you think about the ARJ21's future performance, domestic and international? How many ARJ21 will be delivered in total? Please share your valuable thoughts in the comments.