The largest passenger aircraft produced in China will be presented internationally for the first time at Asia's largest aviation trade fair, which opened in Singapore on Tuesday.
• Also read: China is delivering its first C919 aircraft, a competitor to the A320
• Also read: Boeing 737 with 132 people on board crashes in southwest China
With the C919, Beijing aims to shake up a sector dominated for decades by major aircraft makers Airbus and Boeing, while reducing dependence on foreign technology.
This single-aisle plane is a potential competitor to the A320, the world's best-selling plane, from Europe's Airbus and the 737 MAX from American Boeing, which is in turmoil after a safety incident.
During a media presentation in Singapore on Sunday, the C919 made its first flight outside of China, wearing a white, green and navy blue livery.
It will take part in daily flight demonstrations throughout the six days of the show and will be among the aircraft on display at a sprawling convention center near Changi Airport.
The C919 is built by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), which also brought its ARJ21, a smaller and older twin-engine regional aircraft, to Singapore.
The C919 aircraft has been flying commercially in China since May and was demonstrated for the first time outside mainland China in Hong Kong in December.
Chinese airline Tibet Airlines used the show to finalize an order for 40 C919 aircraft as well as 10 ARJ21 aircraft.
The Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Group also signed an agreement on Tuesday for six ARJ21s configured for firefighting and medical missions, COMAC said in a news release, without specifying the amounts of the two orders.
It will be difficult to quickly find a buyer for the C919 from major airlines, according to aviation analyst Shukor Yusof of Singapore-based consultancy Endau Analytics.
“'Made-in-China' is still stigmatized in the aviation industry, even though China is now the world leader in the electric vehicle market,” he told AFP.
“It will be some time before the C919 is ordered by a major airline,” he added, although “the question is when, not if, a major airline will buy a Chinese-made airliner.”
China also used the show to showcase military models, showing for the first time the Z-10ME attack helicopter, its answer to the U.S.-made Apache.
Boeing is “holding back”
More than 1,000 companies from the aerospace and defense sectors take part in the trade fair, which takes place every two years.
For the first time, China, South Korea and the Czech Republic will be represented with a country pavilion.
If Boeing is represented at the trade fair, unlike in previous years, it will not present any commercial aircraft.
The company has not yet recovered from the spectacular incident that occurred in January, when a door on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 separated from the cabin mid-flight.
A preliminary report from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (NTSB) concluded that four bolts that were supposed to hold the door were missing. According to the investigation, they had been removed during repairs at the Renton, Washington, plant but had not been reinstalled.
That incident, which resulted in only minor injuries, prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground more than 170 MAX 9 aircraft for about three weeks.
“Boeing is intentionally keeping a low profile and avoiding the spotlight as it struggles with an aging product line, the 737 family,” commented Mr. Shukor.
Organizers expect the fair to attract 50,000 trade visitors from around the world, close to pre-pandemic levels.
In 2020, in the middle of Corona, after the withdrawal of many exhibitors, a weakened fair was organized and the 2022 edition took place without the two days open to the public.
Leak Chet Lam, managing director of Experia, the event's organizer, recalled that 2018 was the most important edition of the fair and stressed that 2024 is close to that level, reflecting the global recovery of air travel.
“International passenger traffic has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels and is expected to more than double by 2040,” said Cindy Koh, executive vice president of the Singapore Economic Development Board.