Asian Plane Makers Struggle To Take Off In Crowded Market

Singapore, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Feb, 2020 ) :Asian plane makers have thrown huge sums at building jets but flagship projects have suffered repeated setbacks, and they face a tough time breaking into a market dominated by established players.

The Asia-Pacific region is the world's biggest aviation market for commercial aircraft and Japanese and Chinese firms have embarked on programmes to build their own planes.

Asia's two biggest economies are home to myriad companies making hi-tech goods, from cars to smartphones, which in many cases have succeeded in rivalling Western firms.

But when it comes to building planes -- which requires mammoth investment, years of painstaking development, and rigorous safety standards -- progress has been slow.

The companies at the forefront of the Asian drive, Japan's Mitsubishi and Chinese state-owned manufacturer COMAC, have both seen their flagship projects delayed for years.

China "could be successful in 10-15 years but at this time, the odds are not really in their favour", Shukor Yusof, founder of Malaysia-based aviation consultancy Endau Analytics, told AFP.

"The international market is just too saturated with aircraft from the established manufacturers so there's very little space for new players."Asia's biggest air show in Singapore this week was -- as ever -- dominated by European plane maker Airbus, US manufacturer Boeing and a handful of smaller, mostly Western manufacturers.

Chinese manufacturers had a good reason for not making much of an impression -- they were forced to pull out because of a ban on travellers from China due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed at least 1,483 people and infected tens of thousands.