Vietnam’s state-controlled media reported that the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) is cooperating with private airline VietJet to bring the group’s aircraft to operate in the Vietnamese aviation market.
COMAC Deputy General Director Wei Yingbiao said at a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on November 6 in Yunnan, China that Vietnam is a very potential market for this type of aircraft.
PM Chinh said that COMAC’s cooperation with VietJet was the “right choice.” At the same time, Chinh expressed his belief that COMAC will make great strides in the next 5-10 years.
According to Tuoi Tre newspaper, COMAC’s aircraft have conducted test flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Con Dao. COMAC’s passenger aircraft is expected to officially operate in Vietnam by the end of 2024.
Previously, in June 2024, the leader of Vietnam Airlines, the national flag carrier, also said that they would “consider” the possibility of “operating” China’s Comac C919 aircraft in the future.
According to international observers, in recent years, China has been actively marketing its Comac C919 passenger aircraft to the international market, hoping to compete with giants like Boeing and Airbus. However, China is still having to go through the steps to obtain international certification, which has made airlines around the world extremely cautious.
On June 28, state media reported that due to a severe shortage of aircraft, Vietnam Airlines has been eyeing China’s Comac C919 aircraft. At that time, the news that Vietnam Airlines would use Chinese-made passenger planes caused a stir on Vietnamese social media. Most opinions expressed concern, and said that it was a very wrong policy, because the reason was related to the property and lives of passengers.
Many opinions were concerned that Chinese-made goods were mostly of poor quality, and if Chinese-made passenger planes have problems, passengers would certainly die.
In addition, according to Tin Tuc newspaper on February 12, 2023, citing Asia Times, China’s first domestic aircraft Comac C919 had an engine problem during a test flight, before entering commercial operation expected at the end of February 2023.
Accordingly, during the test flight of China Eastern Airlines, the Comac C919 aircraft took off from Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai and was scheduled to land at Beijing Capital International Airport around noon the same day.
Because one of the engines of the test C919 aircraft, while landing, failed to open the thrust reverser, which is designed to slow down the aircraft, the test flight was canceled and the aircraft had to return to Shanghai.
The initial investigation conclusion of the Chinese aviation safety authorities stated that “the incident was caused by some problems in foreign-origin manufacturing parts.” It is known that the Comac C919 aircraft is advertised as being manufactured and assembled in China at a lower cost, to be able to compete with Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
In fact, China mainly develops the aircraft’s shell, while the most important details such as jet engines, electronic systems, etc. are still produced and manufactured by the West.
After the incident, China Eastern Airlines – the second largest airline in China, had to immediately remove this type of aircraft and replace it with the French Airbus A320.
Public opinion sees that China is bribing Vietnamese officials in economic contracts. And for unknown reasons, PM Chinh, regardless of the safety of passengers, once again intentionally benefits Beijing.
Tra My – Thoibao.de
