The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that China's challenger to Airbus and Boeing's passenger jets, the narrow-body C919 made by the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC), has made its first trip outside Chinese territory, staging a fly-by at the Singapore Airshow on Sunday. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that China has invested heavily in its attempt to break the hold of the dominant two Western plane makers on the global passenger market. Reuters says that China has indicated a push this year to advance the C919 and COMAC's footprint domestically and internationally. The plane is only certified within China and the first of now four C919s began flying with China Eastern Airlines last year. With Airbus and Boeing struggling to increase production and meet demand for new planes, and Boeing struggling with a string of crises, the aviation industry is watching how COMAC positions itself as a viable alternative. China's aviation authority said last month it would this year pursue European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) validation for the C919, a process that began in 2018. Absent from Asia's largest air show is Boeing, which will not display a commercial aircraft this year.