Speaking to Dan Tri reporter , Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thien Tong, former Head of the Department of Aviation Engineering (Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology) said that "flight safety" is the top criterion when the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam considers whether to allow a foreign-made aircraft to operate domestically or not.
In the context of Vietjet airline proposing to put 2 Comac C909 aircraft manufactured in China into operation in Vietnam, Mr. Tong raised 2 issues to note.
Comac C909 aircraft appeared at Tan Son Nhat airport (Photo: Ngoc Tuan).
Firstly, the Comac C909 aircraft has not been tested for its operational life. This is an objective fact because this aircraft has only been commercially exploited for about the past 10 years.
Meanwhile, Airbus and Boeing have been around long enough to demonstrate the durability and longevity of their aircraft, with many 30- to 35-year-old Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s still in service today.
Second, the Comac C909 has yet to receive widespread recognition in the world. Apart from China, Indonesia is the only country that has operated Comac's aircraft.
"Vietnam can also open the door for aircraft for Comac C909, but it needs to be clarified why the two major aviation authorities in the world have not yet agreed," Mr. Tong said, adding that the US Federal Aviation Administration FAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency EASA have not yet granted aircraft type certificates for Comac C909.
In a related development, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has just made an initial assessment of the safety standards of the Comac C909 aircraft that Vietjet Air proposed to put into operation in Vietnam.
Accordingly, as of January 5, the manufacturer has supplied 160 C909 aircraft to 12 airlines, including 11 Chinese airlines and 1 Indonesian airline. This aircraft line has carried more than 19.16 million passengers on 633 routes.
Comac confirmed that there have been no serious accidents or incidents with the C909 aircraft since it entered service. In 2024, the C909 fleet will fly approximately 194,000 hours with more than 135,000 takeoffs and landings.
Regarding incidents, in 2024, Comac C909 aircraft recorded 509 operational disruptions, including 131 flight cancellations due to technical reasons. The operational disruption rate due to technical reasons was 3.77 per 1,000 flights; the flight cancellation rate was 0.97 per 1,000 flights.
Typical technical errors are related to the Brake System, Engine Bleed Air, Heating Faults of Pitot Static Probe... Comac coordinates with the equipment manufacturer to monitor and fix these errors.
Comac C909 (right) and Comac C919 aircraft at the exhibition event at Van Don airport, Quang Ninh (Photo: TDC).
To put Comac aircraft into operation in Vietnam, the Civil Aviation Authority proposed amending Decree No. 92/2016/NDCP and Circular 01/2011/TT-BGTVT in the direction of recognizing China's airworthiness certification standards as the basis for importing aircraft into Vietnam.
After ensuring the legal regulations on recognition of airworthiness certification standards, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam will carry out the process of recognizing the Aircraft Type Certificate for Comac aircraft.
In case a Vietnamese airline has a need for wet leasing (with flight crew), the Civil Aviation Authority will issue a Certificate of Airworthiness for each specific Comac aircraft, and at the same time agree with CAAC on safety inspection and supervision.
In December 2024, Vietjet Air reported to the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) about its plan to wet lease two C909 aircraft from aircraft manufacturer Comac (China) to fly the Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City - Con Dao route during the Lunar New Year 2025. However, this plan could not be implemented.
After that, Vietjet continued to request the ministry and the department to support the procedures for approving the aircraft type certificate (TC Type Certificate) for the C909 according to the long-term development plan.
On January 5, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha had a meeting with Mr. Tan Wangeng, Vice President of Comac Group. The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Transport to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to review and amend current regulations to remove obstacles in the process of putting Comac aircraft into operation in Vietnam.
Dantri.com.vn
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/hai-van-de-luu-y-khi-cho-may-bay-made-in-china-duoc-khai-thac-o-viet-nam-20250301163455970.htm
Comment (0)