Brunei has officially adopted China’s civil aviation certification standards, easing access for Chinese-built aircraft such as the narrowbody C919 jet into the wealthy Southeast Asian market while serving as a potential model for how the planes could expand their international reach.
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Brunei accepted the airworthiness code of the Civil Aviation Administration of China earlier this month, the Chinese embassy in Brunei said on Monday on its website, citing the equatorial country’s Department of Civil Aviation.
Previously, Brunei had recognised only aircraft certificates issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency, the US Federal Aviation Administration and Transport Canada Civil Aviation, the embassy said.
“Through this revision, Brunei becomes another country to explicitly recognise China’s standards on large aircraft,” the embassy said.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) is trying to expand its market for the C919 – China’s first domestically made narrowbody aircraft – overseas and challenge the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing. Comac has already secured orders for hundreds of C919 units from Chinese airlines.
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Brunei’s adoption of the Chinese standards follows a US$2 billion order by start-up carrier GallopAir in 2023 for 30 Comac aircraft, including the smaller C909 regional jet formerly known as the ARJ21.
On its website, the Brunei-based airline called the order Comac’s largest international sale, and likely the first overseas C919 purchase. The airline has a seven-year plan to connect four countries in Southeast Asia with China.