Indonesian airline TransNusa will soon take delivery of its first ARJ21 aircraft, developed by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), becoming the first operator of the type outside China. Prior to its delivery, the aircraft completed a test flight from Shanghai-Pudong International Airport (PVG).
TransNusa is a low-cost airline based in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. It is partly owned by China Aircraft Leasing Group (CALC), a subsidiary of China Everbright Bank.
Since acquiring the airline, the intention of its new owners has been to refocus and optimise its business model. To this end, they are now working to improve its management structure, resolve contractual issues, reorganise the management and operations team, and improve operational standardisation across the board.
Although Indonesia’s aviation market is one of the largest in the world, the safety culture in the Southeast Asian country is far from ideal: it is currently one of the countries with the highest incident and accident rates in the world.
The new administration undertook to renew the fleet by acquiring fifty Airbus A320neo and thirty COMAC ARJ21, with an option to purchase a further thirty aircraft.
The long history of the COMAC ARJ21
Following problems with the Xian MA-60 turboprop, China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) initiated the ARJ21 project in 2002. Seven years later, development of the new aircraft was handed over to COMAC. While the original plan was to complete the commercial introduction of the model in 2005, the programme was delayed due to various design and production problems.
The first prototype was introduced in 2007 and the maiden flight was completed on 28 November 2008.
The design is similar to that of the older DC-9 or MD-80. However, the Chinese manufacturer has continuously stressed that this is a new product with domestically produced technology.
The ARJ21 is an aircraft able to carry around 90 passengers. It is powered by two General Electric CF34-10A engines. According to COMAC, it has a range of up to 3.700 kilometres, depending on operating conditions.
On 30 December 2014, and after completing a programme of more than 5.000 flight hours, the ARJ 21-700 received its type certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Chengdu Airlines took delivery of the first airplane in November the following year and only in June 2016 the first commercial flight was completed.
In 2017, the CAAC certified the mass production of the ARJ21. Since then, COMAC has the capacity to manufacture up to thirty aircraft per year at its Shanghai facilities. While the aircraft is part of the fleets of several Chinese airlines, it will be the first time a foreign airline will operate it.
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