KUALA LUMPUR: The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd (Comac), a Chinese state-owned airplane manufacturer, is preparing to take over the Asean market by conducting a flying display of its C919 and ARJ21 in Malaysia and four other countries in the region this year.
Business Times learnt that the airplanes would be arriving in Malaysia on March 7-9 to be showcased to Malaysian-based carriers by conducting flying displays.
Comac will be landing at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport or better known as Subang Airport for a flight demo on March 7 followed by another flight demo on March 8 from Subang to Kuching and back to Subang before the airplanes leave Malaysia on March 9.
"Comac is on a Southeast Asia roadshow to showcase their C919 and ARJ21 and Malaysia is one of the countries that they will visit," an aviation industry source told Business Times on the sidelines of Routes Asia, hosted by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and Tourism Malaysia here yesterday.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) had told Business Times that it has not received request from Comac to land in Malaysia as at press time.
The Chinese plane manufacturer could submit the request 72 hours before its planned arrival to Malaysia.
Comac had performed its first flying display of its C919 at the Singapore Airshow last week. The narrow-body C919 is slated as a strong rival Boeing's B737 MAX and Airbus' A320.
According to Comac's statement quoted by Reuters, the C919 and ARJ21 will do showcase flights in Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos.
The airplanes are currently in Vietnam following their participation in the Singapore Airshow.
"The primary purpose of these flights is to…showcase the aircraft's good performance and lay the groundwork for future market expansion in Southeast Asia," Comac said in its statement.
Comac is obtaining the European Union Aviation Safety Agency certification. The ARJ21 and C919 are mostly operated by Chinese-based airlines, including China Eastern Airlines.
Currently, only the ARJ21 is being operated by foreign airline, which is Indonesia's TransNusa while the C919 was purchased by Brunei's GallopAir in Septber 2023.
Last week, Airbus chief executive officer of commercial aircraft business Christian Scherer said the European plane manufacturer considers Comac as a credible and existing real competitor.
"Therefore, our aim is to be better than Comac. Comac is offering a fly-by-wire airplane, largely and frankly inspired by our own products. Airbus is offering a fly-by-wire generation of aircraft and that is not the case for our esteemed US competitor."
"One could imagine that Comac's inroads in China would first be felt by the not so modern competitor in the marketplace, which happens to be the other manufacturer," he said when asked by Business Times.
