China’s Boeing alternative starting to look enticing

Good response: Comac’s C919 flies over Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. Shanghai-based Comac has already secured more than 1,000 orders, but they are largely from domestic customers. — AP

FOR more than a decade, China’s state-owned aircraft manufacturer has plugged away at developing commercial jets.

Until recently, efforts to sell foreign customers on an alternative to the US-European duopoly of Boeing and Airbus showed little progress. Then the American giant messed up again.