YTO Cargo Airlines (YG, Hangzhou) and Air Central (China) (GI, Zhengzhou) have each taken delivery of an C909(F) passenger-to-cargo aircraft, the first two conversions of this type that COMAC has handed over, the Chinese manufacturer has announced.
A ceremony marking the handover of this “first batch” of C909 freighters was held at the Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Company Limited (GAMECO) facility at Guangzhou Airport on October 30.
As prefigured earlier this year, YTO Airlines officially took delivery of B-3329 (msn 112), while Air Central (China) took delivery of B-3388 (msn 109). According to Flightradar24 ADS-B data, both aircraft have continued to make test flights in recent days.
Chinese media reports state Air Central plans to deploy its first ARJ21 freighter into routes connecting Zhengzhou, Shanghai Pudong, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen among other local metropoles while further expanding connectivity between China's Central Plains Economic Zone in Henan, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. For its part, YTO will use its ARJ21s to serve Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia.
The COMAC conversions have a maximum payload of 10 tons and a range of 2,778 kilometres. As such, they will be used mainly for cargo and mail carriage and express delivery on domestic routes and short-haul international routes.
As ch-aviation previously reported, express delivery specialist YTO Express plans to add at least two ARJ21-700Fs for its YTO Cargo Airlines subsidiary, while Air Central said earlier this year that it had begun proving flights for B-3388, the first of fifty of the type it aims to operate.
