Chengdu Airlines (EU)'s ARJ21-700, the nation first home-grown regional passenger jet, will make its maiden commercial flight from southwest China to Shanghai in late February.

The ARJ21-700 will depart from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) in Sichuan Province for Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA) on February 28, with a stopover in Changsha, Hunan Province, Chengdu Airlines announced on January 3.

The regional carrier will operate the jet between Chengdu and Beijing soon, which was firstly planned as first destination of ARJ21 and changed at last minute due to slot shortage.

The airline, however, has not started selling tickets for the maiden flight.

Chengdu Airlines, which currently operates narrow-body Airbus A320s, has ordered 30 ARJ21-700 regional jets and plans to fly them on regional routes between Chengdu and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, Nanjing in Jiangsu Province as well as other central and western Chinese cities.

As the launch customer of the ARJ21, the Chengdu-based carrier took delivery of the first 90-seat ARJ21-700 aircraft, Registration B-3321, from Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) on November 29, 2015. Four more ARJ21-700s are scheduled to be delivered to the airline in this year, including one 90-seat aircraft and three 78-seat ones. All 30 ARJ21s for delivery will be completed within next five to six years.

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