ARJ21 Moves Closer to Certification

China’s Civil Aviation Authority issued the Comac ARJ21-700 type inspection authorization in late February, allowing it to begin the final process of flight-test certification, according to the state-run China Daily. Hoping to gain type approval by year-end, Comac has seen the 85-seat ARJ21 suffer through four years worth of delays thanks to a series of unspecified design changes and flight-test “discoveries.” Four flight-test airplanes participate in the program.