Regional jets

A regional jet (RJ) is a class of short to medium-range turbofan powered regional airliners.

The term "regional jet" describes a range of short to medium-haul turbofan-powered aircraft, whose use throughout the world expanded after the advent of airline deregulation in the United States in 1978.

Regional jet airliners are not a new concept in aviation. Starting in the late 1960s Aeroflot, for example, used Yakolev Yak-40 regional sized mini-jet airliners, when its airline functioned as a state controlled national directive. In the West the smaller Aerospatiale Corvette was used as a regional airliner from the 1970s onwards. Several large business jets, such as the British Aerospace 125 and Dassault Falcon 20 were also operated by smaller airlines in the 1960s and 1970s.

Large 70–100 passenger short haul regional aircraft in the western world have existed for years. National "Flag carrier airlines" began ordering the first true purpose-built short-haul airliner, the Sud Aviation Caravelle, a twin turbojet airliner designed for use upon inter-European routes. To speed manufacturing, the Caravelle used the forward fuselage nose section of the de Havilland Comet, the West's first large-scale commercial jetliner, which was not as effective in continental-European flights.

Many of the post World War II airliners were often used on shorter and economically significant prestige routes such as London-Paris, or New York-Chicago, by the world's major airlines.

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