The Civil Aviation Administration of Brunei issued the latest revised civil aviation regulations on 23rd, officially recognizing the airworthiness standards of the Civil Aviation Administration of China and listing it as an acceptable airworthiness authority of the design country. This means that Brunei will allow domestic airlines to operate Chinese-made passenger planes. Previously, Brunei Civil Aviation Authority only approved passenger aircraft designed and certified by regulatory agencies in the United States, Canada, Europe or Brazil, involving corporate products such as Boeing, Airbus and Embraer.
With the current supply of new passenger aircraft in the global aerospace industry struggling to meet market demand, China’s passenger aircraft manufacturing progress overseas has been brought to the attention of the international community. In 2023, Brunei’s native start-up airline, Air China, has ordered 15 C909 passenger aircraft, as well as 15 larger, upgraded C919 narrow-body passenger aircraft. This is the first time China’s overseas airline has ordered a C919 aircraft. So far, Air China has not delivered a passenger aircraft to Air China.
According to public information, the two models that have been admitted to Brunei this time are key models with independent intellectual property rights in China. Among them, C909 is my country's first new short-and medium-range turbofan regional aircraft independently developed in accordance with international civil aviation regulations. It obtained the type certificate of the Civil Aviation Administration of China on December 30, 2014 and the production license on July 9, 2017. It has been officially put into operation. The route is operating and the market is performing well. As my country's first jet mainline passenger aircraft developed in accordance with internationally accepted airworthiness standards, the C919 was awarded a type certificate on September 29, 2022. It completed the world's first delivery on December 9 of the same year, and successfully completed its first commercial flight on May 28, 2023.
In fact, China-made passenger aircraft have been gradually deployed in the international market. In March this year, Comac delivered the first C909 to Lao Airlines; in April, Chengdu Airlines "wet leased" two C909s to Vietjet Airlines for flying the Hano-Kin Island and Ho Chi Minh City-Kin Island routes, starting commercial operations of Comac in Vietnam; in September, Cambodia National Airlines signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with Comac China to purchase 20 C909 aircraft; In addition, Indonesian Lingya Airlines has used the C909 to fly domestic routes since 2022, and Malaysia Airlines Group also said it is closely evaluating plans to purchase China aircraft.
Source: Global Times