China’s Comac wins one of its biggest overseas orders for C909 jets in Cambodia deal
The landmark agreement could see Air Cambodia buy up to 20 of the jets, highlighting Comac’s growing presence in the region
Chinese-made aircraft are set to spread their wings further in Southeast Asia after Air Cambodia announced what could become the largest ever overseas order for C909 passenger jets.
“The two sides will closely cooperate on aircraft introduction, operational support and industry development,” according to an online statement by Comac, the Shanghai-based manufacturer that also produces the single-aisle C919 passenger jet.
Announced on Tuesday, the deal made Cambodia the fourth Southeast Asian nation to accept Comac’s nine-year-old regional jet, previously known as the ARJ21, following Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam.
The C909 has a capacity of 78 to 97 seats and was built for short flights of 2,225km to 3,700km (1,380 to 2,300 miles). By July, Comac had delivered 166 of the jets, which have carried more than 24 million passengers on more than 700 routes.
Indonesia’s TransNusa, Lao Airlines and Vietnam’s VietJet collectively operate seven C909 aircraft on 15 routes connecting 18 cities in the region.