CHINA Eastern Airlines Corp. launched yesterday a fresh subsidiary — OTT Airlines — to push home-grown aircraft to wider markets, the carrier said on its official account on Chinese social media platform Weibo. The Shanghai-based airline said OTT Airlines, which translates to “one two three” in Chinese, would be the first airline to operate Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China’s (COMAC) C919 narrow-body planes, which are undergoing flight testing. Eastern Air was initially slated to be the first operator. OTT Airlines will mainly serve passengers in the Yangtze River Delta and nearby regions. The C919 was designed to compete with the Airbus SE A320 family and the Boeing Co. 737 MAX model. OTT will also operate COMAC’s regional jet — the ARJ21. Last August, Eastern Air ordered 35 of the planes on the same day as Air China Ltd. and China Southern Airlines Co. The ARJ21 is China’s first turbo-fan regional passenger jetliner and was put into commercial service in June 2016. The C919 jet has a range of 4,075 km. China’s C919 single-aisle plane has already received 815 provisional orders, but very few from airlines or leasing companies outside the Asian country. Meanwhile, COMAC is seeking certification from the European aviation regulator to help it operate in many other countries. (SD-Agencies) |