Most contracts are expected to come from domestic customers, Yuan Wenfeng, Comac's deputy general manager of the program management department, said yesterday in an interview at the Singapore Air Show. The company also plans to complete the preliminary design for the plane by the end of the year, he said.

Comac expects to sell more than 2,000 C919s over the next two decades, Yuan said, as China, the world's fastest-growing major aviation market, tries to end its reliance on Boeing and Airbus. The C919 will compete with Boeing's 737 and Airbus's A320, the planemakers' two bestselling models.

State-owned Comac intends to work with overseas suppliers on developing the C919 so that it can access more advanced engines, components and control instruments.

Honeywell International Inc, the US maker of cockpit systems, has bid to supply six systems for China's first commercial narrow-body plane as economic growth spurs demand for planes in the world's most populous country, Asia-Pacific President Mark Howes said yesterday.

He didn't elaborate on which parts the maker of cockpit systems was looking to supply for the C919 aircraft.

Safran and General Electric Co venture won a contract to supply the initial engines for the plane. That deal is worth $10 billion.