Southeast Asia seen to ‘tick all the boxes’ as China seeks C919 buyers

For China, its skies are not vast enough to accommodate the ambitions for its home-grown passenger jets.

It wants Chinese jets to spread their wings and go further, but for now, its desire remains aspirational at best, despite having made a small breakthrough in the Southeast Asian region that is seen to offer great potential.

“I expect TransNusa to stay loyal to Comac and it will eventually take the C919, as it needs larger jets to grow and compete effectively,” said Shukor Yusof, founder of Singapore-based aviation consultancy Endau Analytics.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a firm order is placed within the next two years.”

Comac’s team in Jakarta, which is helping TransNusa train pilots, aims to replicate the success of the two Comac ARJ21 regional jets, which have been criss-crossing the Indonesian archipelago for a year.

A third ARJ-21 also arrived in Jakarta in May and is being primed to start service, with Yusof expecting Comac to offer discounts and incentives as TransNusa nudges closer to more deals as its existing fleet is ageing.

“While they keep buying from Airbus or obtaining second-hand jets from others, it will explore options with Comac regarding the C919,” he added.

Other than the ARJ21, TransNusa’s fleet includes four A320s, which have an average age of 18 years, and it may need to buy new planes to maintain trunk routes from its base in Jakarta to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Chinese hubs including Guangzhou.

The China Aircraft Leasing Group, which is under the umbrella of the state-owned financial conglomerate China Everbright Group, is also a stakeholder in TransNusa.

In June, Everbright renewed its own strategic partnership with Comac that had first been agreed in 2018, and the link could play a role in