China’s COMAC has unveiled plans to showcase two of its short-haul aircraft across Southeast Asia in a bid to secure future international orders from the region.
COMAC’s C919, which has been touted as a rival to Boeing Co (NYSE:BA, ETR:BCO) and Airbus Group (EPA:AIR)’s respective narrow-body 737 MAX and A320neo jets, will feature, alongside the regional ARJ21.
These will take part in aerial displays across Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia over the next two weeks.
“The primary purpose of these flights is to [...] showcase the aircrafts' good performance and lay the groundwork for future market expansion in Southeast Asia," according to the company.
COMAC’s jets, which the company hopes to this year secure European Union Aviation Safety Agency certification for, were on display at last week’s Singapore air show.
This marked the first time the C919 had been shown off outside of Chinese territory, with the vast majority of orders for the jet so far having come from domestic operators.
State-owned COMAC has previously laid out plans to grow international recognition of its C919, which first flew commercially last May, this year.