Taipei, Feb. 11 (CNA) Officials from Canadian transport manufacturer Bombardier wrapped up a two-day visit to Taiwan Thursday in which they gave demonstrations aimed at promoting the company's lower-emission and fuel-efficient airliners.
Bombardier Aerospace arranged two demonstration flights of its Q400 NextGen turboprop airliner at Taipei's Songshan Airport for representatives from almost all Taiwan's air carriers, many of which expressed interest, said Kelvin Hung, a representative of Bombardier's commercial agent in Taiwan.
"The demo tour received positive responses from the representatives but they will conduct reviews before making decisions," Hung said.
The visit to Taiwan, part of an Asia-Pacific tour, presented an opportunity to showcase one of the world's most technologically advanced turboprops optimized for the short-haul regional market, said Trung Ngo, the company's Asia Pacific vice president of sales.
Taiwanese carriers are looking to replace older airliners in their fleets and, after the Taiwan High Speed Rail began operating in 2007, have changed their operating strategies to focus on flights serving outlying islands such as Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu instead of other domestic flights, Hung said.
They are expected to use their jet planes for direct flights between Taiwan and China and to use turboprop airliners with a capacity of between 56 and 80 passengers for flights to the outlying islands, he added.
The planes could also be used for the "mini three links" that allow for limited postal, transport, and trade links between China's Fujian Province cities of Xiamen, Mawei and Quanzhou, and Taiwan's islands of Kinmen and Matsu.