(Yicai) Feb. 20 -- Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China today secured its first orders for the high-altitude variant of its C919 and ARJ-21 airplane, that it is developing together with Tibet Airlines. This is also the world’s first order for China-made plateau aircraft.

Comac and Tibet Airlines penned procurement contracts for 40 C919 plateau aircraft and 10 ARJ-21 high-altitude airplanes at the ongoing 2024 Singapore Airshow, Yicai learned at the signing ceremony.

Tibet Airlines linked arms with Comac in December last year to partner on developing a version of the C919 and ARJ21 aircraft suited to taking off from and landing on plateaus. The Lhasa-based carrier operates flights mainly in and out of China’s Xizang Autonomous Region and so has much experience of flying aircraft at high altitude.

High plateau airports are those situated over 2,438 meters above sea level and the Civil Aviation Administration of China requires that only specially developed plateau aircraft fly these routes. Before, China did not make its own high-altitude airplanes.

The C919 plateau variant can seat between 140 and 160 people, fewer than a standard aircraft, and it is shorter than the basic C919 model at 34 meters long to meet the takeoff and landing requirements at high-altitude airports, Shanghai-based Comac said.

Comac’s C919 aircraft is China’s first homegrown large passenger aircraft and the first C919 was delivered to China Eastern Airlines in December 2022. The Shanghai-based carrier is the only airline to be using the C919 at present, and it has four such aircraft in operation. This number is expected to grow to 10 by the end of the year, and other carriers, including Air China and China Southern Airlines, should also start using the aircraft this year.

The ARJ-21 is a small regional airliner that started commercial operations in 2015 and can carry up to 90 passengers.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor