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China’s home-grown planes touch down in Southeast Asia as West mulls approval
- US$2 billion agreement expands footprint of domestic models as certification winds its way through US, Europe
- Appropriations facilitated by state entities account for major portion of purchase ledgers
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As it waits for the long process of certification to work its way out in wealthier markets, China has turned to a new client base – Southeast Asia – for its home-made passenger planes.
At the recently concluded China-Asean expo in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) signed a US$2 billion deal with Brunei’s Gallop Air to supply it with 30 aircraft.
The deal was announced on Monday by Tianju Group, a Shaanxi-based private enterprise with an ownership stake in the Brunei airline, but no details about delivery time or aircraft type were provided.
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Comac did not reply to a request from the South China Morning Post for comment on the state of its orders.
At the signing ceremony, the backdrop mentioned the ARJ21 – a mid-range Comac airliner that began development in 2002 – but an online statement also brought up the single-aisle C919, which could potentially compete with Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’ A320.
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