China's homegrown ARJ21 jetliner lands at world's highest-altitude civilian airport

(ECNS) -- China's homegrown regional jetliner, the ARJ21, took off from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport and arrived at Daocheng Yading Airport after a 44-minute flight on Sunday.

This marks an important step in the demonstration flight of ARJ21 aircraft around Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. 

Launched on Aug. 21, the demo flight will exceed one month and encompass several high-plateau airports in Xizang, Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu.

This move aims to fully demonstrate the adaptability of ARJ21 aircraft to high-plateau airports and high-plateau routes, of airport ground service equipment and of special flight procedures, so as to better and more comprehensively meet the requirements of high-altitude operation.

Daocheng Yading Airport in Sichuan Province, located at 4,411 meters above sea level, is known as the world's highest-altitude civilian airport.

In July 2020, the ARJ21 aircraft completed maximum take-off and landing altitude tests locally.

These tests verified that the ARJ21 is capable of serving all high-plateau airports, and paved the way for airlines to use the aircraft along more high-altitude routes, according to the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC), its developer.

Plateau airports refer to those airports with an altitude of more than 1,500 meters above sea level. They include high-plateau airports that exceed 2,438 meters above sea level.

China boasts the world's largest number of plateau airports, of which 25 are high-plateau airports. Most of these airports are located in the western regions.

In early July this year, the ARJ21 launched its first high-plateau air route connecting southern Xinjiang's Kashgar Laining International Airport with Khunjerab Airport in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, a land port on the China-Pakistan border situated in the Pamirs region of south Xinjiang.

As a pioneer of Chinese commercial airplanes, the ARJ21 was put into commercial service by Chengdu Airlines in June 2016. 

COMAC said that so far it has delivered 139 ARJ21 airplanes to its customers, with a total of 568 air routes linking 154 cities.