Vietnam is moving towards approving the country’s first purchases of Chinese-made regional passenger aircraft, in a boost for China’s efforts to expand the overseas market for its home-grown jets.
The Vietnamese deputy prime minister, Tran Hong Ha, has ordered the country’s Ministry of Transport to propose legal changes that would “facilitate the certification” of the C909 narrowbody jet, the state-run news website VietnamNet reported on Thursday.
Budget airline VietJet Air has previously expressed interest in leasing the C909, which is produced by the Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) and was formerly known as the ARJ21, according to VietnamNet.
China’s top economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission, said last week that it planned to accelerate the overseas expansion of the C909 this year.
Comac sees the pending Vietnam orders as a milestone, aviation analyst Li Hanming said. “Comac needs overseas clients to prove itself to the world, especially regulatory authorities, so every foreign client helps,” he said.
A team from the Vietnamese Civil Aviation Authority visited Comac in January to “survey and learn about” the C909, according to the authority’s website.
