The first Chinese made "Xinzhou-60" passenger plane was delivered to Okay Airways on Thursday, marking the entrance of homemade regional jets to the domestic civil aviation market in China, Xinhua news agency reported.

Okay Airways, China's first privately sector airline based in Tianjin, signed a contract with the Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation under the China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I) to lease ten "Xinzhou-60" planes in 2007.

"Xinzhou-60", or "Modern Ark (MA) 60", is a turboprop-powered airliner, a new kind of passenger plane with 50-60 seats onboard.

Okay Airways is planning to set up a passenger plane network emanating from Tianjin and covering northern, northeastern and central parts of China.

China has also signed contracts concerning up to 136 "Xinzhou-60" planes and plans to export these planes to Zimbabwe, the Republic of Congo, Zambia, Laos, Indonesia and Bolivia.

The delivery of the aircraft to Okay is a breakthrough in China's domestic aviation market which has long been monopolized by foreign planes.

(CRIENGLISH.com August 1, 2008)