The manufacturer of China's first locally developed short haul plane has received orders for 71 ARJ21 jets, according to a company manager.

The orders were from domestic airline service firms including Shanghai Airlines, Shandong Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.

The manufacturer completed the nose of the short haul jet in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, earlier this week, said Lin Zuoming, general manger of the China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), earlier this week.

The final assembly is scheduled for March next year in Shanghai. The jet is expected to take off for its maiden flight in 2008.

The ARJ21 jet, powered by turbofan engine, can carry 70 to 110 passengers, with a maximum flight distance of 2,000 nautical miles.

The airframe is 3.143 meters wide and 2.06 meters high.

As the world's first plane tailored to China's natural environment, ARJ21 will be capable of landing and taking off at airports on western China's plateau in high temperatures.

The ARJ21 program was officially approved in 2002, with a governmental investment of 5 billion yuan (625 million U.S. dollars) for the first stage of the project.

Source: Xinhua