Aircraft
Comac Lands Orders for Short-body C919 and Firefighting ARJ21
Tibet Airlines is the launch customer for the first major C919 derivative
Comac C919 models at SAS 2024
Tibet Airlines ordered 40 C919s and 10 ARJ21s while investment group Henan is acquiring six ARJ21s for firefighting and other emergency services. © David McIntosh/AIN

Comac formally signed two contracts in Singapore for C919 and ARJ21 airliners, which between them account for the launch orders for new derivatives. The larger of the two deals covers 40 short-body C919s and 10 ARJ21s for Tibet Airlines.

The carrier is headquartered at Lhasa Gonggar Airport in Tibet and operates a hub at Chengdu-Shuangliu. The current fleet consists of Airbus A320 family members and a few A330s for long-haul flights. It has been cooperating with Comac on developing airliners tailored to high-altitude operations, resulting in the “Plateau” variants of both the ARJ21 and C919.