by Sumit Rehal October 24, 2019

Chengdu Airlines is about to launch the first international route flown by a Comac ARJ21. The aircraft will fly across the border from the Chinese city of Harbin to the Russian commune of Vladivostok.

International debut

Routesonline reports that the Chinese airline will introduce the route on October 26, which is this Saturday. However, after that, this service will fly on Mondays and Fridays from October 28.

This will be the first time that an ARJ21 will serve internationally. This aircraft type is manufactured by Comac, which is owned by the Chinese state. The jet was introduced in June 2016 by Chengdu to help it serve regional flights.

This type currently comes in two commercial variants. The ARJ21-700 is the standard model, holding up to 95 passengers. Along with this, the inactive ARJ21-900 is stretched version, holding a capacity of up to 105 passengers.

Internationally local

It is the ARJ21-700 that will make the cross-border trip to Eastern Russia. Even though this is technically an international route, the distance is still local. Both cities are on the most eastern points of their countries’ mainland, giving the journey a short flight time of 1.5 hours. However, due to China’s one time zone policy, passengers will lose two hours on arrival.

Nonetheless, this is the perfect route to test out the ARJ21 for international operations. Once in effect, Chengdu may want to consider using the twin-engine aircraft on routes to other neighboring countries.