ARJ21 aircraft of OTT Airlines completes inaugural flight

 

The first ARJ21 aircraft introduced by One Two Three Airlines (OTT Airlines) operated Flight No. MU5159 on December 28th, 2020, officially starting its inaugural flight with a high passenger load factor of over 90%. The aircraft took off from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport at 14:25 and flew to Beijing Capital International Airport, marking a landmark step in the market-oriented operation of China-made aircraft.

This ARJ21 aircraft of OTT Airlines is in all economy-class cabin configuration with seats for 90 passengers. The seats are arranged in 18 rows with two seats on the left and three seats on the right of the aisle in each row. This ARJ21 aircraft is equipped with the latest ultra-thin type of seats made in China with a simple appearance and comfortable sitting. The spacing, seat back angle and width are comparable to the configuration level of the existing single-aisle passenger aircraft of China Eastern Airlines (CEA). At the same time, this ARJ21 aircraft of CEA is provided with USB power sockets for each passenger. The style of the cabin interiors is consistent with the configuration standard of

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What deserves to be mentioned is that the pilot in command of this inaugural flight is Mr. Zhang Daqi, a "five-star captain of CEA", who has flown 6 types of aircraft successively, with a safe flight time of over 18,300 hours. He has flown a business jet as a companion during the maiden flight of C919 aircraft on May 5th, 2017.




On February 26th this year, at the critical stage of uniformly promoting epidemic prevention and control as well as economic and social development, CEA took a step ahead in the commercial operation of the new generation of China-made civil aircraft and established OTT Airlines, which injected confidence and strength into the civil aviation industry to overcome the impact of the epidemic and speed up the work resumption. OTT Airlines had successfully obtained an operation certificate in accordance with CCAR-121 (Rules on Operations Certification of Large Airplanes Air Carrier) on December 25th, and had also obtained the operation qualification in accordance with CCAR-135 (Rules on Operation Certification of Small Aircraft Commercial Transport Operators), becoming one of the few airlines promoting the "common development" of public aviation and business aviation in the civil aviation industry of China.




In order to operate the China-made aircraft well with high quality, CEA utilizes the force of the whole company, and makes all-round efforts and new practices in multiple aspects such as personnel training, support process, operation arrangement, brand development and market promotion in combination with the model characteristics of the China-made aircraft. Under the full support of the big family of CEA, and as the flight starts, OTT Airlines has established an ARJ21 aircraft operating team including 15 pilots, 28 flight attendants, 9 safety officers, 2 dispatchers, and more than 30 maintenance engineers and performance engineers. According to the plan, OTT Airlines will gradually receive a total of three ARJ21 aircraft at the beginning of the flight, six ARJ21 in 2021 and eight in 2022. By 2025, the size of the aircraft fleet will reach 35.




According to the plan of OTT Airlines, the company will operate the routes such as "Hongqiao-Capital", "Pudong-Daxin", "Pudong-Nanchang", "Pudong-Hefei" and "Pudong-Wenzhou" in succession during the winter and spring seasons from the end of this year to the end of March 2021, including the period of the upcoming Spring Festival travel rush.




In the future, with the development of OTT Airlines and the introduction of more and more ARJ21 aircraft, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) will join hands with OTT Airlines during the operation of the China-made aircraft to ensure elaborate preparation, elaborate organization, elaborate arrangement and elaborate flight, achieve the goals of flying safely, creating benefits, setting up a brand and realizing ambition, fully demonstrate the safe operation quality and advanced design of the China-made civil aircraft, and bring comfortable flight experience for passengers.