China plans C919 test flights in Southeast Asia en route to possible sales

The developer of China’s first home-grown narrowbody passenger jet – seen as a potential competitor to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 – said on Tuesday it planned to conduct test flights in Southeast Asia in the next two weeks, with an eye toward sales in the region.

The Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) said on its WeChat channel that it would carry out “demonstration flights” of its C919 jets in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Comac would also demonstrate the smaller ARJ21 narrowbody regional jet alongside the C919 to test their viability along routes and at airports in Southeast Asia, the statement added.

The demonstrations should “lay the foundation for subsequent market development in Southeast Asia,” the statement said.

Comac’s aircraft are designed for regional flights of just a few hours – which are common in the Southeast Asian region.

But dogged by scepticism in the West about the safety of the C919, Comac has yet to disclose any orders outside mainland China.

Comac’s promotion of its aircraft overseas comes as Airbus deliveries face delays and Boeing grapples with safety issues of its 737 Max.

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China’s C919: first home-grown airliner makes international debut

Airlines in Cambodia, a staunch political ally of China, are likely to give the C919 a chance, while budget airlines in Malaysia may consider their own orders, according to Southeast Asian analysts.

“I think customers in these parts, they’re used to airlines that fly Western-made aircraft, and this would be something new,” said Ibrahim Suffian, programme director with the Merdeka Centre polling group in Kuala Lumpur. “It would take time to win over customers.”

But Malaysian budget airlines, he said, might consider