(Yicai Global) Nov. 11 -- China Express Airlines has become the first non-state-owned aviation company to receive the country's No. 1 domestically developed regional jetliner ARJ21.

The airline got the first aircraft yesterday from the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China and is expecting to have another one by December, the Guizhou-based firm said in a statement.

That will not be the end of it. COMAC is expected to become the regional carrier's largest single aircraft supplier by 2025, it added.

The ARJ21 kicked off commercial operations in 2016 after completing its first test flight in Shanghai in November 2008. The 90-seat aircraft has a range of up to 3,700 kilometers.

China Express Airlines, which mostly covers China's western and northeastern parts with its fleet of 50 aircraft, was China's only private aviation company to make a profit in the first half.

The carrier participated in the jetliner's development very early so the model is made for Chinese regional airports, Chief Executive Wu Longjiang told Yicai Global.

The ARJ21 has undergone safety and service upgrades since its maiden flight, even though there have been no problems with safety over the past four years, Wu added.

Early this month, China Express Airlines signed a contract with Shanghai-based COMAC to purchase 100 planes. Half of those are ARJ21s and the remainder may include bigger C919s. The negotiated price for ARJ21-700s with an extended range was lower than the catalog price of USD38 million, the buyer revealed then.

COMAC has delivered 39 ARJ21s to several airlines and those have safely transported more than 1.3 million passengers.

Editor: Emmi Laine