Vietnamese budget airline VietJet Air leased two ARJ21 aircraft produced by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) to carry passengers during the Lunar New Year. However, local media reported that due to difficulties in certification and procedures, the two ARJ21 aircraft were ultimately not put into commercial operation in Vietnam.
In December last year, VietJet wrote to the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, proposing to lease two ARJ21s to carry passengers from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao d
uring the Spring Festival, hoping that the authorities would assist with the procedures.
Vietnam's Dan Tri newspaper reported that the ARJ21, painted with VietJet Air's logo, had landed at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, and Con Dao Airport. Many people therefore believe that the ARJ21 is ready to carry passengers during the Lunar New Year travel peak season.
However, the ARJ21 subsequently departed Vietnam. Reports, citing sources from the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, indicate that the ARJ21 was only conducting test flights in Vietnam and has not officially entered commercial operation there. According to local regulations, all aircraft models imported into Vietnam must be certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), or the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam. However, the ARJ21 has not yet received FAA or EASA certification, and obtaining certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam is also difficult because the Vietnamese authorities lack the capacity to certify the ARJ21.
The authorities have not yet obtained detailed respect
The report said that if VietJet Air had introduced aircraft produced by Boeing, Airbus or Embraer, the certification procedures for commercial flights in Vietnam would be much simpler. In addition, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam does not have official information on the design, manufacturing, maintenance and flight operations of COMAC aircraft, and therefore cannot evaluate the certification process.
COMAC was established in 2008 and the ARJ21 is its first turbo-engine regional airliner, but Vietnamese media pointed out that the aircraft's engine, core devices and components come from the United States and Germany respectively.
In addition to the ARJ21, COMAC currently also has the C919 narrow-body passenger aircraft; as of August last year, COMAC had delivered more than 140 ARJ21s to 12 customers, the main buyers of which were Chinese companies, including the three Chinese aviation giants: Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines.
