(Yicai Global) Oct. 18 -- China's independently-developed ARJ21-700 airplane has successfully completed its test flight over Northwest China's Qinghai Plateau along the Xining-Delingha-Huatugou-Delingha-Xining and Xining-Ge'ermu-Xining air routes, demonstrating its ability to fly over high-plateau areas, China News Service reported.

Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China developed the ARJ21 civil airplane, which is a twin-engine regional jet with independent intellectual property rights.

ARJ21, short for Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century, has 78 to 90 seats and a flight range of 2,225 to 3,700 kilometers and mainly plies radial routes from city centers to surrounding small and mid-sized cities.

Qinghai Airport Co., in charge of the test flight, explained that its main purpose was to verify the ARJ21-700's flight capacity over high-plateau air routes. The test included an engine-ignition ground test in a high-plateau airport, flight performance verification testing and take-off and landing flight tests. 'High-plateau air route' refers to one above a plateau that stands at an elevation of at least 2,438 meters above sea level. A high-plateau air route imposes higher requirements on aircraft, especially on their oxygen-supply system because of the thinner air. Runways must also be longer and fuel more abundant than for ordinary flights.