China's domestically developed ARJ21 regional jetliner has completed one month of demonstration flights in high-altitude areas in southwest China's Yunnan Province, proving the exceptional performance of the jetliner in alpine and plateau regions.

Starting July 5, the aircraft successfully completed 124 flight segments from 52 flight routes around Yunnan Province.

The demonstration flights involved 15 airports within Yunnan and the total flight time reached 157.55 hours, according to the ARJ21's developer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC).

"The demonstration flight involves two ultra high-altitude airports at more than 3,200 meters above sea level, and another three high-altitude airports at an altitude of 1,500 meters. We mainly focus on the flight routes with a flight time of more than 50 minutes," said Gu Shangkun, pilot with COMAC Shanghai Aircraft Customer Service.

Yunnan enjoys vast potential in the development of regional jetliner markets with abundant tourism resources and a large number of airports. The successful demonstration flights of the ARJ21 have proved the aircraft's good performance on the plateau despite rigorous environment conditions.

"Through the multiple-route, multiple-mileage flights, we will have a more comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of the aircraft and the airports, and the environmental and climate conditions of Yunnan," said Lian Hao, deputy director, the Customer Training and Operation Department, COMAC Shanghai Aircraft Customer Service.

"This demonstration flight around Yunnan is a challenge to China-developed regional jetliner operating on plateau, high-altitude plateau and airports with special geographic conditions, to prove that our jetliner, the airport and the market can perform very well," Lian said.

The ARJ21 is China's first turbofan regional passenger jetliner. Designed with a capacity of 78 to 97 seats, it can fly in alpine and plateau regions and adapt to varying airport conditions.

More than 100 ARJ21 regional jetliners have been delivered to airlines at home and from abroad, and they have been used on over 370 air routes connecting 130 cities. The aircraft have served more than 7.6 million passengers so far.