An ARJ21 aircraft operated by Chengdu Airlines successfully landed at Harbin Taiping International Airport on the morning of May 2. It marks the beginning of commercial operations of the ARJ21 aircraft in Heilongjiang province.

The ARJ21 aircraft will serve five routes, including Chengdu in Sichuan province, Jinan in Shandong province, and Harbin, Heihe, Wudalianchi, Fuyuan and Jiamusi in Heilongjiang province.

According to the flight schedule of Chengdu Airlines, the Harbin-Jinan-Chengdu flight, Harbin-Heihe flight and Harbin-Wudalianchi flight will run every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday; and the Harbin-Fuyuan flight and Harbin-Jiamusi flight will run every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The ARJ21, produced by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, is China’s first domestically developed regional jetliner.

An ARJ21 aircraft was delivered to Chengdu Airlines on Oct 19, 2017 after the model received mass production certification in July.

It has 78 to 90 seats and a maximum range of 3,700 kilometers. It will mainly serve China's central and western regions.

Heilongjiang Airport Group announced in December 2017 that the ARJ21 had successfully completed trial flights to seven airports in Heilongjiang over the course of 19 days, demonstrating its ability to fly safely in cold regions at high latitudes; and verifying the aircraft’s normal capacity limits.

Crew and passengers pose next to Flight EU2239 following its arrival at Harbin Taiping International Airport on the morning of May 2. [Photo/Chinanews.com]