OTT Airlines, a newly-founded subsidiary by China Eastern Airlines, has finished its maiden flight from Shanghai to Beijing.

The flight was operated by an ARJ21 on Monday 28 December and was piloted by Zhang Daqi who has flown six types of aircraft with a safe flight time of over 18,300 hours.

The ARJ21 is the first turbofan regional passenger jetliner produced by China which is able to carry as many as 90 passengers. The airliner, which recently reached a milestone of one million passengers, has 18 rows and features ultra-thin seats.

OTT Airlines is scheduled to fly from Shanghai to Beijing, Nanchang, East China’s Jiangxi province, Hefei, East China’s Anhui province and Wenzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province until March 2021. The carrier currently has three ARJ21-700 jets and is expected to receive more deliveries including another six aircraft in 2021 and eight in 2022, totalling to 35 ARJ21 jets by 2025.

OTT Airlines was launched by China Eastern Airlines in February 2020 with an aim to fly homegrown passenger jets in China’s mainland market and demonstrate their quality and advanced design as well as to bring superior flight experiences to the passengers.

ARJ21 and C919, both manufactured by the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, will make up the majority of the new carrier’s fleet, said the Shanghai-based company.