Comac’s C919 single-aisle jet is poised to make its worldwide air present debut in Singapore subsequent month, in accordance with folks aware of the matter, because the Chinese language planemaker seeks to capitalize on Boeing Co.’s woes and a manufacturing backlog at Airbus SE.
Business Plane Corp of China Ltd., because it’s formally recognized, will conduct a flying show and exhibit its homegrown jet amid a push to broaden potential gross sales past Asia’s largest economic system, the folks mentioned, declining to be recognized as a result of the data isn’t public. Singapore’s biannual air show runs from Feb. 20-25.
For China, the timing of the upcoming show by Comac couldn’t be extra fortuitous for China’s ambitions to hitch the ranks of worldwide plane producers. Boeing is going through intense scrutiny over its single-aisle 737 Max jets within the wake of a plug door blowout on a model new Max 9 jet flown by Alaska Airways earlier this month. U.S. aviation regulators ordered Boeing late Wednesday to halt further production-rate increases for its 737 Max plane.
In gentle of Boeing’s high quality points, the U.S. planemaker isn’t planning to ship any of its business plane for show in Singapore, different folks mentioned.
A consultant for Boeing didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Comac additionally didn’t reply to a request for remark. Organizers for the Singapore air present didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Comac has already dabbled sending its planes exterior of mainland China, in December flying its solely two fashions of jet—the C919 and smaller ARJ21—to Hong Kong. The ARJ21 will even be current on the Singapore air present.
Hong Kong Airways, backed by HNA Group, was amongst airways to tour the C919 extensively in Hong Kong. The provider mentioned Thursday it was “closely monitoring the progress of the C919 and assessing its potential benefits to our fleet and suitability for our operations.”
Whereas the C919 isn’t licensed by any main regulators just like the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration or its European counterpart, that means it could’t fly to most locations exterior of China, check planes that lack such permits can nonetheless function demonstration flights.
Boeing has historically despatched its flagship business jets to air reveals and a few years in the past started sending its soon-to-be-produced 777-9 long-range wide-body jet to such occasions. U.S. Division of Protection-operated Boeing planes are nonetheless anticipated to seem on the Singapore air present.
