Airlines China Express takes delivery of first ARJ21 aircraft

China Express has become the latest operator of the ARJ21 regional aircraft manufactured by COMAC. During a signing ceremony in Chongqing, the aircraft registered as B-650P was delivered to the airline.

With the delivery, China Express underlines its ambitions to strengthen the regional aviation network and market in China. Now, seven aircraft are operating with Chinese-built aircraft and the network is expanding constantly.

Mr. Guo Bozhi, Vice President of COMAC, issued an aircraft sales certificate to Mdm Chen Xiang, Vice President of SPDB Financial Leasing. Mr. Xu Dongyi, Deputy Director of CAAC Southwest Regional Administration, issued the Registration Certificate, Airworthiness Certificate and Radio Station License for the first ARJ21 aircraft of China Express to Mr. Li Zhiliang, President of China Express, on behalf of relevant units of CAAC.

China Express recently signed a purchase agreement with COMAC for 100 aircraft, of which 50 are ARJ21 series and the other 50 can be ARJ21 aircraft or larger C919 aircraft. The concrete allocation however is yet to be determined.

Xu Chunrong, Deputy Director of the Equipment Industry Department II of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said: "The cooperation between COMAC and China Express is a concrete manifestation of taking advantage of the huge civil aviation market in China and driving the application and development of independent innovation products. I hope, that both sides can continually improve the economic efficiency of the China-made commercial aircraft through continuous communication and form the unique advantages and competitiveness of the China-made aircraft in the future."

He Dongfeng, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of COMAC added: "COMAC has ushered in the first private enterprise user, and the ARJ21 aircraft has won the largest order so far. This is a key milestone in the market introduction of ARJ21 aircraft, and indicates, that ARJ21 aircraft have gained more recognition from customers after more than four years of market-oriented operation, while also indicating that a key step was made in the large-scale and industrialized development of the China-made commercial aircraft."

China Express was founded in May 2006 and has its main operational base at Guiyang Longdongbao Airport. The current fleet consists of 13 Airbus A320, of which two are A320neos, 38 Bombardier CRJ-900s and one COMAC ARJ-21-700.