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ARJ21 Xiangfeng
Chengdu Airlines COMAC ARJ21-700 Xiangfeng
Role Regional jet
Manufacturer Comac
Design group AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Company (ACAC)
First flight November 28, 2008 (2008-11-28)
Introduction 28 June 2016 with Chengdu Airlines[1]
Status In production, in service
Primary user Chengdu Airlines[2]
Produced 2007–present[3]
Number built At least 114 (as of 31 July 2023)[3][4]

The Comac ARJ21 Xiangfeng (Chinese: 翔凤; pinyin: xiángfèng; lit. 'Soaring Phoenix') is a 78–90 seat regional jet manufactured by the Chinese state-owned aerospace company Comac.

Development of the ARJ21 (Advanced Regional Jet) began in March 2002, the first prototype was rolled out on 21 December 2007, and made its maiden flight on 28 November 2008 from Shanghai. It received its CAAC Type Certification on 30 December 2014 and was introduced on 28 June 2016 by Chengdu Airlines.

Resembling the McDonnell Douglas MD-80/MD-90[5][6] produced under licence in China, it features a 25° swept, supercritical wing designed by Antonov and twin rear-mounted General Electric CF34 engines. 100 airframes had been delivered by the end of 2022.[3][4][7]

Development

Joy Air ARJ21 Model at the 2008 China Airshow

The development of the ARJ21 (Advanced Regional Jet) is a key project in the "10th Five-Year Plan" of China. It began in March 2002 and was led by the state-owned ACAC consortium. The maiden flight of the ARJ21 was initially planned to take place in 2005 with commercial service beginning 18 months later.[8] The programme became eight years behind schedule.[9] The design work was delayed and the final trial production stage did not begin until June 2006.[10]

The first prototype (serial number 101) rolled out on 21 December 2007,[11] with a maiden flight on 28 November 2008 at Shanghai's Dachang Airfield. The aircraft completed a long-distance test flight on 15 July 2009, flying from Shanghai to Xi'an in 2 hours 19 minutes, over a distance of 1,300 km. The second ARJ21 (serial number 102) completed the same test flight route on 24 August 2009. The third aircraft (serial number 103) similarly completed its first test flight on 12 September 2009.[12] The fourth aircraft (CN 104) flew by November 2010. By August 2011, static, flutter and crosswind flight tests had been completed.[13]

The ARJ21 is a small jet aircraft that looks similar to the MD-80,[5] which was licensed to be built in China. COMAC claims that the ARJ21 is based on an original design, part of which was created by supercomputers in China.[14] The ACAC consortium was reorganized in 2009 and became a part of COMAC.[15]

Key flight tests and CAAC certification

AC104 returned to China on April 28, 2014, after completing natural-icing tests in North America. This was the first time a turbofan-powered regional jet independently developed by China had flown abroad to carry out flight tests in special weather conditions. At the same time, other flight-test aircraft covered more than 30,000 km across Asia, America, Europe, and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Natural-icing tests are required for airworthiness certification, and conducting these tests outside China showed it was feasible to do certification tests for civil aircraft in other countries.[16]

The first production aircraft flew on 18 June 2014.[9] and AC104 completed an airspeed calibration flight on October 30. Route-proving started on October 29, 2014, and AC105 made 83 flights between ten airports in Chengdu, Guiyang, Guilin, Haikou, Fuzhou, Zhoushan, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Yinchuan and Xianyang. The cumulative flight time was 173 hours and 55 minutes.[17] By November 2014, AC104 had completed 711 flights in 1,442 hours and 23 minutes. Certification tests included stall, high-speed, noise and simulated and natural icing.[18] AC105 returned to Yanliang airport on December 16, 2014, from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport after the last function and reliability flight. This completed the testing for the ARJ21-700 airworthiness certificate.

The ARJ21-700 received its Type Certification under Chapter 25 of the Chinese civil aviation regulations from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), on December 30, 2014.[19] The certification program for the CAAC required 5,000 hours.[20] An ARJ21-700 completed a final demonstration flight on 12 September 2015 before being delivered to a customer.

Introduction

On 29 November 2015, COMAC delivered the first ARJ21-700 to Chengdu Airlines.[21] The first commercial flight took off from Chengdu Shuangliu Airport on June 28, 2016, landing in Shanghai two hours later,[22][23] one day after its commercial flight was approved by the CAAC. During the summer schedule period of 2016, i.e. until October 29, 2016, the ARJ21-700 was scheduled to operate three weekly rotations between Chengdu and Shanghai Hongqiao. 85 flight segments were operated by ARJ21 (81 by B-3321, four by B-3322).

Further developments

In June 2018 an ARJ21-700+ was proposed for 2021 with weight and drag reductions. Subsequently, a -900 stretch version was designed to accommodate 115 all-economy seats, similar to the Bombardier CRJ900, Embraer E175-E2 or Mitsubishi MRJ90. Structurally conservative and designed for hot and high operations, the ARJ21's 25 t (55,000 lb) empty weight is higher than initially targeted in 2002, and also higher than competing aircraft. In 2018 an executive version was in final assembly and a cargo variant was proposed.[24]

Freighter conversion program

The ARJ21 Passenger to Freighter (P2F) conversion program began in May 2020; the type certification and testing program was completed in December 2022 and the type certified by the CAAC on 1 January, 2023.[25]

The first two ARJ21 converted freighters (B-3329 and B-3388) were delivered to customers on 30 October 2023. The two airframes were initially delivered to Chengdu Airlines in 2018 in the passenger configuration and were subsequently withdrawn for the P2F program in 2021. Airframe B-3329 was handed over to YTO Cargo Airlines which intends to operate the type on short-haul international routes while airframe B-3388 was delivered to Air Central (based in Zhengzhou, China and not to be confused with a Japanese company formerly known by the same name) for flights on domestic routes.[26] The converted freighters have a maximum payload capacity of 10 tonnes and a range of about 1500 nautical miles (2780 km).[26]

Production

In early July 2017, the CAAC certified the ARJ21 for mass production.[27] On 6 March 2020, the first ARJ21 assembled at the second production line in Pudong, took its first production test flight.[28] The second production line, with a production capacity of up to 30 jets a year, is located at the same facility that assembles the C919.[28]

Design

Several Western sources claim the ARJ21 closely resembles either the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 or the MD-90, which were produced under licence in China.[5][6] Comac states that the ARJ21 is a completely indigenous design.[29][30][31] The ARJ21's development did depend heavily on foreign suppliers, including engines and avionics from the United States. The ARJ21 has a new supercritical wing designed by Antonov Design Bureau with a sweepback of 25 degrees and winglets.[32][33][34] Some of China's supercomputers have been used to design parts for the ARJ21.[35]

Manufacturers

Members of the ACAC consortium, which was formed to develop the aircraft, will manufacture major components of the aircraft:

Variants

ARJ21-700
Baseline model which has a capacity of 70 to 95 passengers.
ARJ21-900
Stretched fuselage model based on the ARJ21-700, which will have a capacity of 95 to 105 passengers.
ARJ21F
Planned dedicated freighter version of the ARJ21-700. It will have a capacity of five LD7 containers or PIP pallets, with a maximum payload of 10,150 kg.
ARJ21P2F
The ARJ21P2F is designed with a maximum payload of 10,150kg and is compatible with PMC, PAG and AKE cargo containers.[25] The first aircraft began conversion operations on 22 December, 2022 at GAMECO in Guangzhou, China.[39] The first batch of conversions involves 2 ARJ21-700 aircraft originally operated by Chengdu Airlines and was returned to COMAC in 2021.[40]
ARJ21B
Planned business jet version of the ARJ21-700. A typical configuration would cater for 20 passengers.

Operators

Chengdu Airlines' ARJ21 at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in 2019
The first ARJ21 for Air China was delivered on 28 June 2020
China Southern Airlines' ARJ21
OTT Airlines' ARJ21

As of October 2018, there were six aircraft in commercial service with an average monthly utilization rate of around 30 hours.[20]

By the end of 2021, 66 aircraft had been delivered to customers.[41] And by the end of 2022, 100 aircraft have been delivered.[42]

Orders and deliveries

As of 31 August 2018, Comac had 221 outstanding orders, after 23 deliveries to launch operator Chengdu Airlines who put it in service on 28 June 2016.[43]

Executing orders[4][3]

The following table is current as of 31 July 2023. Note that the numbers listed in the table have been obtained by cross-referencing the two web-based sources cited in the footnotes. Also note that the numbers listed are for the year of initial deliveries of airframes to (non-COMAC) commercial aerial services operators and do not necessarily reflect the number of airframes currently operated by each such operator; as a result, the total number delivered may exceed the total number of airframes cited in the original contracts.

Date Airline Confirmed

(+Options)

 Deliveries
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
August 30, 2019 China Air China 35 3 4 8 6
January 2010 China Chengdu Airlines 30 1 1 2 6 8 6 6 4
August 30, 2019 China OTT Airlines (Subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines) 35 2 5 10
November 2020 China China Express Airlines 50 2 1 3
August 30, 2019 China China Southern Airlines 35 3 4 8 6
December 2019 China China Flight General Aviation Company (CFGAC) 2 1 1
August 20, 2018 China Genghis Khan Airlines 25(+25) 3 2
January 2020 China Jiangxi Air 5 3 2
China Urumqi Air 5
December 2022 Indonesia TransNusa 30 1 1
Totals 197(+25) 1 1 2 6 12 22 22 34[7] 13
113

Reported Orders

Date Airline Type Options Rights
ARJ21-700 ARJ21-700F ARJ21-700P2F ARJ21B
September 2003 China Shanghai Airlines[44] 5
China Shandong Airlines[44] 10
China Shenzhen Financial Leasing[44] 20
March 2004 China Xiamen Airlines[45][lower-alpha 1] 37
December 2007 China Henan Airlines[46][47] 100
December 2007 Laos 9nes[48][49] 2
March 2008 United States GECAS[50] 5 20
China Joy Air[51] 50
May 2010 Indonesia Merukh Enterprises[52] 10
November 11, 2014 Republic of the Congo Republic of Congo[53] 4
March 9, 2015 China ICBC Leasing[54] 30
August 30, 2019 China China Eastern Airlines[55] 35
October, 2022 China Longhao Airlines 50[40]
November, 2022 China YTO Cargo Airlines[56] 70 2[40]
20 September 2023 Brunei GallopAir[57] 12 3[58]
Totals 345 Orders 20
  1. ↑ Although the Xiamen order for six was reported in some press as firm, ACAC's own web site still shows them as "options"

An Indonesian airline will fly with its entire fleet consisting of 60 ARJ21 aircraft, although as of now that airline is not specified.[59]

Specifications

ARJ21-700 ARJ21-900
Cockpit crew Two
Seating capacity 90 (1-class)
78 (2-class)		 105 (1-class)
98 (2-class)
Seat pitch 31 in (1-class), 36 & 32 in (2-class)
Length 33.46 m (109 ft 9 in) 36.35 m (119 ft 3 in)
Wingspan 27.28 m (89 ft 6 in)
Wing area 79.86 m2 (859.6 sq ft)
Wing sweepback 25 degrees
Height 8.44 m (27 ft 8 in)
Cabin width 3.14 m (10 ft 4 in)
Cabin height 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
Aisle width 48.3 cm (19.0 in)
Seat width 45.5 cm (17.9 in)
OEW 24,955 kg (55,016 lb) 26,270 kg (57,920 lb) STD
26,770 kg (59,020 lb) ER
MTOW 40,500 kg (89,300 lb) STD
43,500 kg (95,900 lb) ER		 43,616 kg (96,157 lb) STD
47,182 kg (104,019 lb) ER
Cargo capacity 20.14 m3 (711 cu ft) -
Take-off run at MTOW 1,700 m (5,600 ft) STD
1,900 m (6,200 ft) ER		 1,750 m (5,740 ft) STD
1,950 m (6,400 ft) ER
Service ceiling 11,900 m (39,000 ft)
Max. operating speed Mach 0.82 (870 km/h; 470 kn; 541 mph)
Normal cruise speed Mach 0.78 (828 km/h; 447 kn; 514 mph)
Range (fully loaded) 1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) STD
2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) ER		 1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) STD
1,800 nmi (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) ER
Maximum fuel load 10,386 kg (22,897 lb) -
Powerplants (2x) General Electric CF34-10A[60]
Engine thrust 75.87 kN (17,057 lbf) 82 kN (18,500 lbf)
  • Notes: Data are provided for reference only. STD = Standard Range, ER = Extended Range
  • Sources: ARJ21 Series,[61] ICAS[62]

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References

  1. ↑ "Airbus, Boeing Jostle for China Friendship, and Aircraft Orders". chinaaviationdaily.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "PICTURES: Chengdu Airlines takes delivery of first ARJ21". Flightglobal.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "COMAC ARJ21 production list". rzjets.net. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "COMAC ARJ21 Production List". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 "With ARJ21-700 Certified, Focus Shifts To Support". aviationweek.com. 20 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 July 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  6. 1 2 Vertesy, Daniel; Szirmai, Adam. "Interrupted innovation: Innovation system dynamics in latecomer aerospace industries".
  7. 1 2 "China's COMAC Delivers Its 100th ARJ21". 2 January 2023.
  8. ↑ "China-Made ARJ21 Feeder Plane to Appear at Zhuhai Aviation Show". People's Daily. Archived from the original on 4 October 2003. Retrieved 4 November 2002.
  9. 1 2 C919 Inches Toward Flight-Testing, ARJ21 Toward Upgrade Archived 2015-11-17 at the Wayback Machine, Aviationweek, 3. November 2014
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  11. ↑ "'Flying Phoenix' is China's first homegrown commercial aircraft". Associated Press. 22 December 2007. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009 – via TheRecord.
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  13. ↑ "China's ARJ21 falls behind on flight test schedule". Flightglobal.com. 24 August 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  14. ↑ A Look At China's Airbus A220 Equivalent: The COMAC ARJ21 - Simple Flying
  15. ↑ information on COMAC's website (Chinese)
  16. ↑ "China-made ARJ21 aircraft completes natural icing flight test and achieves a global flight of 30,000km". Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  17. ↑ "ARJ21-700 AC105 completes function and reliability flight test successfully". comac.cc. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  18. ↑ "ARJ21-700 AC104 completes all flight tests before issuance of TV". comac.cc. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
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  20. 1 2 Firdaus Hashim (26 October 2018). "Comac marches forward with ARJ21 and C919". Flightglobal. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
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  22. ↑ Wong, Chun Han, First Chinese-built passenger jet goes into service, Wall Street Journal, June 29, 2016, p.B7
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  24. ↑ Bradley Perrett (15 June 2018). "Comac To Upgrade ARJ21, Planning Freight Version". Aviation Week & Space Technology.
  25. 1 2 "ARJ21客改货项目获得适航批准". www.chinaerospace.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  26. 1 2 Alfred Chua (30 October 2023). "COMAC delivers first ARJ21 converted freighters". FlightGlobal.com.
  27. ↑ Matthew Miller and Fang Cheng (9 July 2017). Himani Sarkar (ed.). "China Certifies COMAC to Mass Produce ARJ-21 Regional Jets: Xinhua". Reuters. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  28. 1 2 Alfred Chua (12 March 2020). "Comac opens second ARJ21 production line". Flightglobal.
  29. ↑ "Xinhua – English". News.xinhuanet.com. 1 June 2006. Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  30. ↑ "我国已具备生产大型民用飞机的能力". News.eastday.com. 30 March 2007. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  31. ↑ "中国首架自主知识产权新支线飞机-上海频道-东方新闻-东方网". Sh.eastday.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  32. ↑ "Website "Antonov": News". Archived from the original on 24 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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  35. ↑ Davis, Bob (23 March 2012), "China's Not-So-Super Computers", The Wall Street Journal, retrieved 25 March 2012
  36. ↑ "CF3410APowered ARJ21 Regional Jet Certified by CAAC". General Electric Company. 30 December 2014. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  37. ↑ "COMAC ARJ21 – program supplier guide". Airframer.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  38. ↑ Wong, Chun Han, China's first jetliner set to take off after delays, Wall Street Journal, p.B2
  39. ↑ "【罗戈网】 圆通航空与中国商飞举行ARJ21-700全球首架客改货原型机大开口切割仪式". www.logclub.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  40. 1 2 3 网易 (4 October 2022). "ARJ21货机首飞，配备大侧舱门，C919也应尽早发展客改货". www.163.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  41. ↑ Shaw-Smith, Peter. "Deliveries of Comac's ARJ21 Approach 70 Units". Aviation International News. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  42. ↑ "100th Chinese-developed ARJ21 jetliner delivered-Xinhua". english.news.cn. Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  43. ↑ Firdaus Hashim (26 October 2018). "Comac marches forward with ARJ21 and C919". Flightglobal. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  44. 1 2 3 "Three carriers place ARJ21 orders". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 23 September 2003. Retrieved 3 July 2006.
  45. ↑ "ARJ21 orderbook climbs to 41 as Xiamen signs up". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 3 August 2004. Retrieved 3 July 2006.
  46. ↑ "Ceremony inaugurates Chinese jet". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 21 November 2007. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
  47. ↑ AVIC announced a new order for 100 planes from Kunpeng Airlines, a Sino-US joint venture, raising the total number of orders to date to 170.
  48. ↑ "Building a future: The AVIC I ARJ21-700 programme". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 7 August 2007. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
  49. ↑ K.K. Chadha. "China lays plans for ARJ21-900". AINonline. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  50. ↑ "GE Commercial Aviation Services Announces Purchase of Five ARJ21-700ER Regional Jet Aircraft from Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, LTD (COMAC); Options for Additional 20 Aircraft". Gecas. 21 November 2008. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  51. ↑ "China Eastern, AVIC I launch Joy Air". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 1 April 2008. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
  52. ↑ "China exporting ARJ21s and other aircraft to Indonesia". Flightglobal.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  53. ↑ "The Republic of Congo announces to order three ARJ21-700 aircraft". comac.cc. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  54. ↑ "I.C.B.C. Leasing orders thirty ARJ21-700 aircraft". comac.cc. 9 March 2015. Archived from the original on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  55. ↑ "China's top airlines to buy ARJ21 jets from COMAC". reuters.com. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  56. ↑ "China's COMAC Delivers Its 100th ARJ21". 2 January 2023.
  57. ↑ "Brunei's Gallop Air places US$2bil order for China-made C919, ARJ21 jets". 20 September 2023.
  58. ↑ https://www.bizbrunei.com/2023/11/behind-gallopair-ambitious-bid-to-position-brunei-as-a-regional-travel-hub/
  59. ↑ "Indonesian airline will be first to fly fleet entirely of ARJ21s". South China Morning Post. 12 July 2016. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  60. ↑ "Datasheet-CF34-10A" (PDF).
  61. ↑ "ARJ21 Series page". Archived from the original on 13 July 2009.
  62. ↑ ARJ21-700 Specifications Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine at icas.org
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