China's locally-made regional jet made its maiden commercial flight on Tuesday (June 28), taking 70 passengers from Chengdu to Shanghai, the operator Chengdu Airlines announced.

According to CBS News, the ARJ21-700, or the Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century, is one of the series of initiatives debuted by the Chinese government to shift China's low-cost factory into the profitable aviation market. It is a 14-year program that aims to compete with foreign aircraft giants such as Boeing and Airbus.

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However, airplane manufacturers are still not threatened by the new Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) plane, since it still lacks the US Federal Aviation Administration Certification, which is its ticket to fly across the US skies, Channel News Asia reported.

The plane was first approved by the government in 2002 and was officially revealed to the media on 2007, after officials believed they can reach their late 2009 target. However, Chengdu Airlines has only received the aircraft from COMAC last November, and it made a number of "demonstration" flights early this year.

Although ARJ21 still has to prove its quality and reliability and win potential customers and passengers' confidence, COMAC has already claimed that over 270 orders are on the wait list for ARJ21, mostly from local clients.

The aircraft can accommodate between 78 and 90 passengers and has a range between 2,225 and 3,700 kilometers.

The plane's debut flight is operated by Chengdu Airlines and is set to accommodate fliers from Chengdu to Shanghai three times a week.

TagsChengdu Airlines, commercial flight, commercial plane, ARJ21, ARJ21-700 Planes, Comac