The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has been offering the C919 to customers outside of China as the company and country look to export its domestically made Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX 8 competitor.

Offering C919 to customers

According to a report by Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, COMAC’s executives have pitched the C919 to airlines in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan, with the Chinese plane maker looking to secure more orders for its narrowbody jet outside the country.

In September 2023, GallopAir, a Brunei-based startup airline, signed a preliminary agreement for 30 COMAC aircraft, including the ARJ21 (now known as the C909) and C919 aircraft. The airline had planned to launch operations by the end of 2024.

Nevertheless, the Bloomberg report identified Angkor Air, Garuda Indonesia, and SCAT Airlines that COMAC has approached to offer the C919 potentially. While SCAT Airlines is a privately owned airline (international relations between China and Kazakhstan have been tense due to how the former has treated Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China), the two countries have maintained diplomatic and economic ties.

In July, Xi Jinping, the president of China, visited Kazakhstan on an official state visit, where the two countries have established “a unique permanent comprehensive strategic partnership,” The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference stated.

“Two-way economic and trade cooperation has reached new highs, people-to-people and cultural exchanges have featured numerous highlights, and the two sides' international cooperation has been close and efficient, which has not only improved the well-being of the two peoples, but also injected more stability and positive energy into the international and regional situation.”

Securing a flag carrier order

However, securing orders from Angkor Air and Garuda Indonesia, the flag carriers of their respective countries, would represent an important win for COMAC and China and its aerospace industry, which has struggled to find success abroad.

TransNusa, an Indonesia-based airline, has three C909 aircraft in its fleet, ch-aviation fleet records showed. The Chinese manufacturer delivered the trio on December 18, 2022 (PK-TJA), June 10, 2023 (PK-TJB), and May 29, 2024 (PK-ALC), according to the site.

In November, Jinping met with Prabowo Subianto, the president of Indonesia, and the pair discussed the two countries' relations, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

“The two countries should further improve the layout of strategic cooperation and foster cooperation regarding the "five pillars" of politics, economy, culture, maritime affairs and security.”

Garuda Indonesia already had to resort to the second-hand market to add aircraft to its fleet. In May, the airline announced that it would add four Boeing 737-800 and two Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft each throughout 2024 to expand its network.

Ch-aviation data showed that the Indonesian flag carrier has 49 737 MAX 8 aircraft on order. Boeing delivered its only 737 MAX 8 in December 2017, but it was redelivered to SmartLynx Airlines Malta in January 2023 after the single-aisle jet exited its fleet in July 2022.

While there had been reports that the airline canceled the 49 737 MAX 8 order shortly after the type was grounded in 2019, Boeing’s orders and deliveries filings still showed that the deal was intact.

Furthermore, Erick Thohir, the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises of Indonesia, said that Indonesia and its airlines, including Garuda Indonesia, have to buy more Boeing aircraft, according to CNBC Indonesia.

“We [need] to have 700 aircraft, but today, Indonesia, after Covid-19, only has 390 aircraft. So yes, these solutions inevitably require collaboration, whether with Airbus, 👁 Image
Boeing, or COMAC from China, or aircraft from Russia that may usually make this.”

Pros and cons

While the pros of going with COMAC, as Bloomberg also pointed out, would be that Garuda Indonesia and other airlines could skip the queue for new single-aisle aircraft since both Airbus and Boeing, who are struggling with their respective supply chains, are sold out until at least the early 2030s, there are caveats.

COMAC’s support network, namely pilot, engineer, and flight attendant training centers, as well as the Chinese plane maker’s maintenance network, could pose questions for potential buyers.

Furthermore, since delivering the first C919 to China Eastern Airlines in December 2022 (B-919A entered service in May 2023), COMAC has only been able to deliver ten additional C919s, including the most recent delivery to China Eastern Airlines on November 28. Other C919 operators include 👁 Image
Air China (two) and China Southern Airlines (three).