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JAKARTA/SHANGHAI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- "I always fly and I want to know how it performs. It turns out that it has been a year and the aircraft has shown itself very well. Li Yaomin, vice chairman of Indonesia's Lingya Airlines, said this in a recent interview with Xinhua News Agency.
On December 18, 2022, China's self-developed jet regional airliner ARJ21 with completely independent intellectual property rights was officially delivered to its first overseas customer, Indonesia Lingya Airlines, marking the first time that a domestic jetliner has entered the overseas market. On April 18, 2023, the ARJ21 aircraft, which was incorporated into the fleet of Lingya Airlines, flew from Jakarta to Bali and officially entered commercial debut. As of April 18, 2024, ARJ21 will be the first anniversary of commercial operation.
In one year, Lingya Airlines has received 2 ARJ21 aircraft, opened 6 routes, operated 8 cities, and carried nearly 120,000 passengers.
Over the past year, the ARJ21 aircraft has not only flown domestic routes, but also international routes to Indonesia, not only to conventional airports, but also to short and narrow runway airports, fully demonstrating the advantages and potential of this aircraft in Indonesia and Southeast Asian markets, and proving its reliability and stability.
"We will show the world that the ARJ21 is indeed a great regional jet for our market. Li Yaomin said.
Behind the successful first anniversary of commercial operation is the collaboration between Lingya Aviation and COMAC. Over the past year, COMAC has sent senior flight instructors to Indonesia to provide on-site technical support, dispatched safety management experts and engineers to provide on-site technical support, and set up a customer service center in Jakarta to provide users with more efficient and localized personnel training, spare parts, aircraft maintenance and other support services.
"As a manufacturer, we must not only sell the product, but also ensure that the user uses the aircraft well. Wu Guofang, deputy general manager of COMAC customer service company, told reporters, "Our operation support team provides a full range of services, including pilots, flight attendants, on-site training of maintenance and dispatch personnel, as well as manuals, aviation materials and other guarantees, which strongly supports the safe and smooth operation of ARJ21 aircraft under different types of operation requirements such as international, domestic, trunk, regional line, charter flight, rescue and other types of Indonesia Lingya Airlines." ”
Since the ARJ21 aircraft was certified as airworthiness by Indonesian civil aviation, Wu Guofang spends almost half of his time in Indonesia every year, and his love for the ARJ21 aircraft has extended to the trust of the ARJ21 team, both airlines and civil aviation authorities.
"When I got off the plane after completing the last airworthiness certification subject, the inspector from the Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority presented me with flowers. He is usually very serious, but he suddenly changed that day, which surprised and surprised me!" Wu Guofang recalled, "He lamented that our COMAC team is an international and professional team, and he admires our professionalism and professionalism very much, and he wants to express his respect in this way." ”
To COMAC's delight, the indicators of ARJ21's overseas operations are better than expected, and the aircraft availability rate and dispatch reliability have maintained "two 100%" for four consecutive months.
The excellent performance of the ARJ21's overseas operations has created favorable conditions for China's domestic commercial aircraft to accelerate the pace of going to sea. After the Spring Festival this year, taking the Singapore Airshow as an opportunity, C919 and ARJ21 carried out a series of market development activities of "Southeast Asia Demonstration Flight", which aroused enthusiastic responses from all walks of life.
Liu Wanting, chairman of the Chinese side of Lingya Airlines, told reporters that Lingya Airlines will form a route coverage network with Jakarta, Bali and Manado as three central points in the future, and extend the flight routes of ARJ21 aircraft to Australia and China. In the near future, Lingya Airlines will introduce the third ARJ21 aircraft to enhance its route operation capacity. Liu Wanting believes that the overseas operation of ARJ21 fully proves that it will be an excellent product that passengers love to sit, airlines love to fly, and financial institutions love to invest, and the operation prospect in the Southeast Asian market is very good.
Referring to the ARJ21 aircraft, Danny, Chief Flight Engineer of Lingya Airlines, said: "ARJ21 is not only the pride of Chinese, but also the pride of Indonesians and Asians!" (Reporter: Jia Yuankun, Ye Pingfan, Di Chun, Sun Lei; video: Di Chun; editor: Su Liang, Yu Shuaishuai, Wang Yujue, Wang Kewen)