CGTN Europe spoke to David Learmount, aviation expert and Consulting Editor at Flightglobal.
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00:00The aircraft has carried over a quarter of a million passengers across Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam.
00:06Well, let's talk now to David Learman, the aviation expert and consulting editor at Flight Global.
00:12David, welcome back. How significant is Comax C-909 being picked up by Vietjet?
00:20Well, let's say it's the beginning of a story which could go a long way.
00:25If I think back to the days of the 1970s when Airbus was a name that nobody had ever heard of
00:32and Boeing and McDonnell Douglas were the only names out there that anybody took seriously
00:39and yet you look at where Airbus is now, it started off with just a few airplanes being placed to start with in the home market
00:49and then gradually gaining credence in the international market
00:54and we see where it is now.
00:55So we're talking about very early days.
00:58We've got a handful of airplanes with three foreign airlines all in the Southeast Asia region
01:06but Indonesia, of course, which is potentially quite a large market for the C-909,
01:16that could be the start of something big.
01:19So what potential does this Southeast Asia market offer?
01:26Well, this aircraft, the C-909, is ideal for the Indonesian market.
01:32Indonesia, of course, is a very large country.
01:34If you look at the distance from east to west and from north to south,
01:39you've got an archipelago of large and very small islands,
01:44about, I think, altogether in the region of 2,000 islands.
01:48So you need regional aircraft, small aircraft, short-range aircraft and medium-range aircraft
01:56to cover just the domestic market alone.
01:59So that's an absolutely perfect market for the C-909, which is very good at flying.
02:06It's a jet aircraft as opposed to a turboprop or as opposed to a propeller-driven airplane,
02:11which is often used for short take-off and landing.
02:15But here we have an aircraft that can cope with conditions at major airports,
02:20and it can also fly to small airports and small runways on islands.
02:25And so it's absolutely perfect for Indonesia.
02:28David, let's talk about bigger passenger jets.
02:31I mean, what chance of COMAC really bringing about an end to the Boeing-Airbus domination, this duopoly?
02:40Well, the C-919 is an aircraft which is almost exactly the same size, capacity and performance
02:54as the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737 series.
03:00So it is a direct competitor.
03:03Now, the international market is very, very conservative.
03:12They have to trust an aircraft completely before they begin ordering a new aircraft type in any numbers at all.
03:21So, again, we're very, very early days with both types on the international market.
03:27But they both have tremendous promise.
03:30And remember what I mentioned a while ago, that back in the 1970s and 1980s,
03:36Airbus was a name that you've hardly ever heard of.
03:39And now, in terms of civil jet manufacture, at the moment it's putting out more airplanes than Boeing was.
03:48And nobody would have believed that possible at the time.
03:51The most important factor for the market in credibility is reliability and low cost of service.
04:03That means low cost in usage of fuel and low cost in maintenance, which is where the reliability comes in.
04:10And the reason why early orders will be fairly slow is because it takes time to build up this trust.
04:20People observe others.
04:22The world is watching China operating these airplanes.
04:26Southeast Asia is beginning to operate them.
04:30And they will gain trust as time goes by.
04:33And it is about time that a major competitor for Boeing and Airbus came into the market
04:44because the market is much bigger now than it used to be.
04:47And there is room for more than two big operators.
04:51David, good to see you.
04:52Thanks for that.
04:53David Learmann, the consulting editor at Flight Global and the international aviation expert.
04:58Thanks for that.