China Takes Flight To Vietnam With Domestic COMAC Jets

While a short-term lease for the COMAC jets was set to be issued by a private Vietnamese airline, Vietnam is cautious about authorizing jets that have only been certified in China and Indonesia.

Having dominated nearly all major production and manufacturing sectors, China has now turned to the skies. Reuters has reported that in its efforts to enter the foreign aviation market, China is pushing Vietnamese authorities to authorize the use of its homegrown COMAC jets. This indicates the Chinese-state-owned firm’s efforts to compete with Western aviation giants like Airbus and Boeing.

While a short-term lease for the COMAC jets was set to be issued by a private Vietnamese airline, VietJet, Hanoi is yet to greenlight the deal as they are cautious about authorizing jets that have only been certified in China and Indonesia.

Such a deal with Vietnam is part of Beijing’s continued efforts to break into the international aviation industry. In October 2024, news broke out that the COMAC plane maker had opened an outlet in Hong Kong, signing a deal to facilitate flight operations there. Until then, outside of a single Indonesian airline, COMAC’s remaining two passenger planes were only operational within mainland China. The firm was focused on breaking into the global aviation industry when Western plane makers were struggling to meet the rising demands on time.

The opening of the office in Hong Kong came a mere week after COMAC had set up shop in Singapore.  China’s ambassador to Singapore, Cao Zhongming had said at the inauguration of the office that this was the first step towards the internationalization of COMAC, which had increased the production of its C919 narrow-body passenger plane last year. However, the company had found from day one that it would be difficult to go global without standard certifications from the European Union (EU) or the US.

While the Chinese had been actively pursuing these certifications, especially for their C919 passenger planes, fast-forward to January 2025, they are yet to obtain the required licenses. Offices were opened in the US and France in 2010 and 2011 respectively to gain certification and to improve cooperation; however, there is little information regarding the status of the certifications. Aviation experts have commented that this delay means that China’s plans to expand globally in the flight market are still a faraway dream.

While their entry into Singapore can be understood through a purely business-oriented and transactional lens, COMAC’s entry into Hong Kong and Vietnam has much more nuance and a strategic approach. Hong Kong, which is China’s specially administered region, has its own civil aviation regulator. Hong Kong’s airport authorities have permitted international flight operations for COMAC’s C919 planes and COMAC also agreed to expand its business ties with HAECO, a Hong Kong-based aircraft maintenance group. This included improved collaboration and cooperation in airframe, engine, and component services for COMAC customers.

Beijing is actively trying to repair relations with Vietnam, after their long-lasting conflict over the South China Sea which continues to this day. Both countries are embarking on a journey to improve their economic ties, as in recent months, efforts were made by both parties to improve cooperation on defense and transport infrastructure. COMAC Board Director Tan Wangeng visited Hanoi last week and Chinese media reported that around the same time, Chinese Premier Xi Jinping said to Vietnamese leader To Lam that both countries must work towards improving connectivity.

Shortly after this interaction, Vietnam’s government released reports saying that it was in the process of eliminating any regulatory hurdles to ensure easy access for COMAC jets to become operational in the country.

With increasing avenues of cooperation between Vietnam and China and COMAC’s stellar safety records, with no reported accidents, it would only be a matter of time before China obtains the required certification to begin operations in Vietnam.