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Comac is confident it will be able to secure production certification for the ARJ21 in the second half of the year, which will allow it to speed up the assembly of the regional jet.

The ARJ21 entered service last year with Chengdu Airlines.

Speaking to Flightglobal at the Farnborough air show, Comac’s deputy general manager for sales and marketing Dang Tiehong said that with the certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the manufacturer will produce 30 ARJ21s annually by 2020.

"If the market demand requires it, we can still raise it further," he adds.

Comac has yet to receive the production certification for the ARJ21 despite the programme getting type certificated in December 2014. This means it has had to get individual certifications for production of the regional jets.

The Chinese manufacturer has so far delivered one aircraft to Chengdu, with the second scheduled for delivery in August.

Dang adds that the manufacturer is still working to optimise the regional jet, in a bid to improve its performance and economics as well as maintenance.

On the first day of Farnborough, Comac disclosed commitments for 90 ARJ21s from two Chinese leasing companies.

Source: Cirium Dashboard