A domestically developed ARJ21 aircraft on the tarmac at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport before taking off yesterday. China Southern Airlines, the country’s largest air carrier, officially put the plane into commercial operation yesterday. The ARJ21 aircraft began its first commercial flight on a regional air route linking Guangzhou and Jieyang, both cities in Guangdong Province. The airline said it expects to have 35 ARJ21 aircraft by 2024. Developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, the ARJ21 is China’s first turbo-fan regional passenger jetliner model. It is designed with 78 to 90 seats and has a range of 3,700 km. It can fly in alpine and plateau regions and is adaptive to various airport conditions. China News Service