Speaking of domestic passenger aircraft, many people's first reaction is C919, but in fact, the mainland also has a passenger aircraft that can be called "domestic pride", which is ARJ21.

What is the operation of the ARJ21 after one year of overseas operation? What are the specific differences between it and the C919? What is the situation of the future layout of civil aviation passenger aircraft in the mainland?

What is the situation after a year of operation

At the end of 2022, ARJ21 flew overseas, and its first customer was Indonesia's Lingya Airlines. On April 18 last year, the ARJ21 was officially incorporated into the airline's flight formation.

For a year, the ARJ21 flew from Jakarta to Bali. By the 18th of this month, the vice president of Lingya Airlines told the media that the operation of the aircraft has been very good in the past year, and the single-day utilization rate is more than 8 hours, and this year the airline will receive the new ARJ21 aircraft.

At present, Lingya Airlines has actually received two ARJ21 aircraft, and the airline is equipped with a total of 26 captains and co-pilots, and the staff on other aircraft have also received training in COMAC's customer service center.

From the perspective of specific operations, due to the relatively short runways of airports on the islands in Indonesia, this also allows aircraft to accumulate experience in take-off and landing on short runways.

In addition, Indonesia is characterized by a large number of islands and close proximity, coupled with a dense population, which is very suitable for the development of regional airliners like the ARJ21.

In June last year, the company also operated an international flight from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur.

In the next step, as the number of aircraft received increases, it will also expand its routes to the islands between the northeastern regions of the country. The number of flights in that area is relatively small, and it is not economical to use mainline airliners to fly, which is suitable for regional airliner operations.

In addition to regular flight schedules, there are also many Chinese-funded enterprises in northeastern Indonesia, and there will be more charter flights in the future, such as picking up workers to and from work at fixed times.

In response to the training and maintenance situation, Indonesia also has an office of COMAC, and the convenience is bound to be greatly improved in the future.

Therefore, on the whole, the overseas operation of ARJ21 is also good. In fact, before this, its overall operation in China was also very stable.

It has a passenger capacity of more than 10 million passengers

Eight years ago, in 2016, the ARJ21 was officially put into operation. Over the years, the aircraft has opened up more than 400 routes, more than 140 navigable cities, and carried out about 1,800 flights per week.

Unconsciously, the domestic aircraft has been operating for many years and has flown all over the airports in the north and south of the country.

As of last year, COMAC has delivered 117 ARJ21s to various airlines, and the airlines that have purchased this aircraft include Tianjiao Airlines, Chengdu Airlines, Jiangxi Airlines, China Express Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.

By November last year, with the flight from Guangzhou to Jieyang, the number of passengers carried by the ARJ21 exceeded 10 million.

This indicates that this type of aircraft has gradually matured in operation, and in the future, it will not only develop on a large scale, but also expand the use scenarios of the aircraft.

Last year, two ARJ21s dedicated to cargo were delivered. In addition to the type of passenger and cargo transportation, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has previously approved the airworthiness application of the ARJ21 for business and medical aircraft. In the next step, the application for fire extinguishing and emergency rescue command will also be promoted in due course.

In terms of size, the ARJ21 is significantly smaller than the C919, and the flights it performs in China are also regional routes, that is, short- and medium-haul routes.

This difference is also the difference between it and C919, and the difference between the two will be more obvious after mature use in the future.

The mission difference between ARJ21 and C919

The first test flight of the ARJ21 was in 2012, and 12 years have passed, and its identity and mission have become more and more prominent.

Compared with the C919, the ARJ21 is a typical regional airliner, and the difference between the two is not only the difference in size and definition, but also the difference in operating routes.

The so-called branch line can be simply understood as air transportation from large cities to small and medium-sized cities, or between small and medium-sized cities.

Its biggest feature is its short flight range, the general distance is only 600 to 1200 kilometers, and the maximum will not exceed 3500 kilometers.

In addition, airports in small and medium-sized cities are smaller in size than in large cities. However, in general, the size of the airport does not constitute the main factor in the use of regional airliners, and the main thing is the distance.

Because of the short flight range, this type of aircraft is designed to be relatively small in size. The cabin is single-aisle, and the maximum number of seats is only about 100. Some smaller models have only a few dozen seats.

For example, ARJ21 has been put into use in China in recent years, and the routes operated by various airlines are concentrated in the province, such as between provincial capitals and prefecture-level cities.

Regional airliners guarantee the air transport in local areas, small and medium-sized cities because of the small population size, not suitable for the construction of large airports, corresponding to small models, can promote the docking with large cities from the overall transportation.

This idea first originated in the United States, and since the 70s of the last century, the United States has developed a large number of regional aviation business, which has formed a supporting development with mainline aircraft.

The domestic C919 is a trunk airliner, with a large overall size and a passenger capacity of more than 190 people or more. From the point of view of flight distance, the flight range of trunk airliners can reach more than 5000 kilometers.

So it is obvious that trunk airliners are flying over long distances, between large cities.

Looking at it from a point of view, the route of the trunk airliner is like the main blood vessel, and the regional airliner is like a capillary, and the corresponding transportation scenarios of the two are different in size, distance and quantity.

From the perspective of the development of the domestic aviation industry, the central and western regions are suitable for the development of regional airliners in the future.

On the whole, the population of the central and western regions is relatively sparse, especially the population of the western region is relatively scattered, the efficient and centralized transportation mode on the ground is not suitable for development, and the transportation scale of trunk passenger aircraft cannot support the operation.

The construction of small and medium-sized airports and the development of regional passenger aircraft transportation are the most efficient and economical modes of transportation, both in terms of convenience and cost. Since ARJ21 was put into operation, it has opened fixed flight routes in Xinjiang and other western places.

It is worth mentioning that in addition to regional airliners and mainline airliners, there is another type of aircraft that is a wide-body airliner.

All three aircraft have been released

The ARJ21 is aimed at the branch line, the C919 is aimed at the trunk line, and the C929, which has been developed and manufactured, will be benchmarked against the larger wide-body passenger aircraft in the future.

The R&D company of C929 is also COMAC, which was previously developed in cooperation with Russia, and after the project was officially finalized last year, there will be independent research and development by the mainland, and the first flight is expected to be completed around 2030.

The biggest difference between it and the previous two aircraft is that it is larger, that is, it corresponds to a wide-body passenger aircraft in the field of civil aviation.

The biggest feature of this type of aircraft is that the cabin is usually double-aisle, and the number of seats in a single row is also much higher. Because of this, the corresponding single-aisle airliner is also called a narrow-body airliner.

In the field of civil aviation, Airbus and Boeing have a series of wide-body passenger aircraft, which are super-large aircraft that fly longer routes, basically transnational or transoceanic routes.

The C929, which has been developed, will have a flight range of more than 12,000 kilometers and the number of seats in the cabin will reach 280, and the number of seats may continue to increase in the next step.

From the perspective of development history, the first to develop a wide-body passenger aircraft and put it into operation was Boeing. In 1970, the first wide-body airliner flew from New York to London.

With the further maturity of technology, the passenger capacity of large wide-body passenger aircraft has gradually increased from two or three hundred to more than 500. The flight range went from 10,000 km to a further breakthrough of 14,000 km.

After the 90s, Boeing's wide-body airliner became more well-known because the U.S. government transformed it into a presidential plane, which is often known as the Air One.

Compared to narrow-body airliners and smaller regional airliners, wide-body airliners have a better overall ride experience than other aircraft due to their size and material changes.

From the airline's point of view, they define the size type of aircraft mainly in terms of the distance of the route. Generally speaking, like most domestic routes, the narrow-body passenger aircraft used are basically used. For international flights and transoceanic flights, a greater proportion of wide-body passenger aircraft will be invested.

COMAC already has regional airliners and narrow-body airliners, and with the advent of wide-body airliners in the future, the mainland civil aviation field will have all the aircraft to deal with different use scenarios.

Now the domestic aircraft is vigorously developing, and the future can just catch up with the large-scale demand of the domestic aviation industry.

9000 new aircraft are needed in the future

In the next 20 years, the domestic aviation market will surpass Europe and the United States and become the largest market in the world. Previously, data estimated that by the middle of this century, the speculation in service in the domestic civil aviation field will exceed 10,000.

With such a large scale, the demand for new aircraft will reach about 9,000 units. Specifically, the annual demand for new aircraft in domestic civil aviation is about 500. If the international market is included, the annual market demand for the next 20 years will be about 2,000 aircraft.

In addition to the delivery of new aircraft, aircraft that have reached the end of service life will also be replaced. Statistics show that the overall age of the mainland's planes is still young, and more than 70 percent of the planes are less than 10 years old.

However, as time continues to lengthen, the existing aircraft will enter the phase of phase-out and replacement in the next 20 years. So, whether it's adding new aircraft or replacing aircraft, it's a huge market.

For domestic aircraft, the ARJ21 and C919, which have been officially put into operation, need to continue to hone the market and accumulate experience in order to usher in more market share in the next step.

On this basis, as the C929 also enters the market in the future, the manufacturing of mainland civil aviation passenger aircraft will usher in systematic and comprehensive development.

epilogue

Nowadays, whether it is a regional airliner or a trunk airliner, the hourly operation is accumulating experience, and only through the continuous increase in mileage, passenger capacity, and operating time can the comprehensive performance of the aircraft be more tested.

According to the latest news, Vietnam's Vietjet Air has also signed an agreement with COMAC, and the next step will be to introduce ARJ21 passenger aircraft in the form of leasing.

The market is still developing, and the signing of each order means that the comprehensive performance of the aircraft has been recognized by the market.

Previously, both the ARJ21 and the C919 participated in the Singapore Airshow, and also completed demonstration flights in many countries in Southeast Asia, and the market response was very positive, which also laid the foundation for the aircraft to continue to go to sea in the future.

Resources:

"The First Anniversary of the Overseas Commercial Use of Domestic ARJ21, the First Overseas User Explains the Operation in Detail" Yicai April 18, 2024

"Domestic regional airliner ARJ21 carries more than 10 million passengers" Xinhuanet, November 24, 2023

"China is Airbus' largest market, and nearly 10,000 aircraft may be delivered in the next 20 years" Times Weekly, July 20, 2023

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