Indonesian carrier TransNusa has deployed the Comac ARJ21 regional jet on its second international route, flying between Jakarta and Johor Bahru in Malaysia.
The low-cost airline, which is linked to Chinese lessor CALC, launched the inaugural flight to the southern Malaysian city on 7 September, and will operate it four times a week. TransNusa is the second carrier to operate between the two cities, after low-cost competitor Indonesia AirAsia.
The route launch comes less than two months after it operated the type’s first international route, flying from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur.
TransNusa is the only foreign customer for the ARJ21, and now has two examples – PK-TJA and TJB – in its fleet, both of which are on lease from CALC. In January 2021, CALC placed an order for 30 ARJ21s with TransNusa.
The airline has also been operating ARJ21s on domestic flights between Jakarta and Denpasar Bali since April.
In comments published on CALC’s website, TransNusa chief Bernard Francis praised the ARJ21’s “high utilisation and high reliability”, noting that the airline hopes to “continue develop route networks” within Southeast Asia that the ARJ21 can be deployed on.
CALC holds an interest in TransNusa via its 72.28% stake in Aviation Synergy (Caymen), which in turn owns Naga Pacific Holdings, which holds 49% of the airline’s shares.
Apart from ARJ21s, TransNusa also operates Airbus A320s, and has three examples in service.
