The launching ceremony of OTT Airlines on Wednesday in Shanghai Photo: Courtesy of China Eastern Airlines

China Eastern Airlines on Wednesday launched a subsidiary named OTT Airlines, a carrier to fly home-made passenger aircraft primarily in China's mainland market, the latest move to show the country's ambition to compete with global plane-makers.

The Shanghai-based company said the new carrier will mainly fly ARJ21 and C919, two models under the producer Commercial Aircraft Corp of Chi-na (COMAC).

Covering the Yangtze River Delta region as well as China's other coastal regions and neighboring areas, the company will also provide commercial and business jet services, according to the release sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

The name OTT, also could be understood as "One Two Three", originated from "Tao Te Ching", a text from the ancient philosopher Lao Tzu. 

In 2010, China Eastern signed a purchase intention with COMAC for 20 C919 planes, the first customer for C919 in the world. 

So far, COMAC has won 850 orders from 30 foreign and domestic airlines for the C919 single-aisle plane. The first C919 made its maiden flight from Shanghai in May 2017, and the aircraft is now undergoing more test flights. 

China Eastern, together with other two giants — Air China and China Southern Airlines — in August 2019 each signed a contract for 35 ARJ21-700 regional jets with COMAC.

Those ARJ21 aircraft are expected to be delivered before 2024 in groups.

Beyond China Eastern Airlines, there are other carriers flying home-made aircraft, such as Genghis Khan Airlines which plans to fly the ARJ21 in its fleet. It received the first ARJ21 in February 2019.

By January this year, COMAC had delivered 23 ARJ21 to customers includ-ing Chengdu Airlines, Genghis Khan Airlines and Jiangxi Airlines.