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On August 21, 2024, an ARJ21 aircraft of COMAC took off from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Sichuan. After a 50-minute flight, it successfully arrived at Hongyuan Airport in Aba, Sichuan, marking the official start of the ARJ21 aircraft's "Around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" demonstration flight lasting more than a month.

According to the arrangement, during this demonstration flight, the ARJ21 aircraft will use Chengdu, Sichuan, Xining, Qinghai and Lhasa, Tibet as its operating bases, and fly to multiple high-altitude airports in Tibet, Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu, fully verifying the ARJ21 aircraft's adaptability to high-altitude airports and high-altitude routes, the adaptability of airport ground service equipment and the applicability of special flight procedures, so as to better and more comprehensively meet the operational requirements of high-altitude areas.

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, airports with an altitude of 2,438 meters or more are high-plateau airports. There are 25 high-plateau airports in my country, accounting for more than 50% of the total number of high-plateau airports (runway length of more than 2,000 meters) in the world. The plateau area has thin air, complex terrain, and changeable weather, which places extremely high demands on aircraft performance, crew qualifications, and operational support capabilities. On July 2, 2024, Chengdu Airlines ARJ21 aircraft launched its first high-plateau scheduled flight-from Kashgar, Xinjiang to Taxkorgan. So far, the flight has been operating well, bringing convenience to local people's transportation.

In recent years, with the development of my country's economy and society, the demand for civil aviation transportation in plateau areas has gradually increased, and the demand for aircraft that can adapt to high-altitude airports and routes has also increased. The ARJ21 aircraft took into account the operation conditions in my country's western region at the beginning of its design, taking plateau performance as an important indicator, and carried out demonstration flights in Yunnan, Xinjiang and other places. This "Around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" demonstration flight will further verify the aircraft's plateau operation performance, laying the foundation for domestic commercial aircraft to open more high-altitude routes and accelerate the implementation of the "Frontier Express".

Source: CCTV News Client

(Shangguan News)