China Eastern Business Jet Co, a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines Co, will expand into its public air transport and operations using some domestic aircraft such as the ARJ21 and C919, media reports said on Thursday.

According to a document seen by the Global Times on Thursday, China Eastern Business Jet was renamed Yiersan (One, two, three in Chinese) Airlines. The company began to update its business license on August 14.

The change was made to serve the airline's shift of business operations, as it plans to increase domestic passenger and cargo transport services, domestic news site yicai.com reported.

The major change for Yiersan Airlines is to start operating with China's indigenously developed ARJ21 regional jetliners, the report said, noting that the company is expected to utilize another domestically built plane, the C919 passenger jet. Parent China Eastern Airlines, the first global client for the jet, is scheduled to receive the first C919 by 2021.

Apart from Eastern Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines Co may also set up new divisions to operate ARJ21 jets, the report said.

Analysts said that the move by the three airlines to establish special companies to operate ARJ21 aircraft represents a bid to support the development of regional air transport and domestic planes. The development of the ARJ21 is still at an early stage.

These moves are also in line with China's master plan for regional air transport, Guo Ning, an aviation industry analyst, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The total ARJ21 fleet is expected to grow to more than 100 in the coming years as routes among second- and third-tier cities develop, said Lin Zhijie, an aviation industry insider.

The companies declined to comment when reached by the Global Times on Thursday.

In April, China Eastern established work teams such as a business jet transformation development preparation group and a group to bring in the ARJ21 jet.