Photo: Courtesy of COMAC

China has recently stepped up commercial aircraft cooperation with Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, according to their respective joint statements. Malaysian flagship carrier Malaysia Airlines is considering purchasing aircraft from Chinese aircraft maker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), with C909, C919 and C929 all in consideration, domestic media outlet Caijing magazine reported on Friday.

The strategic goal of Malaysia Airlines is to expand the trade exchanges between China and Malaysia, especially under the current circumstances. The company is formulating a plan to expand its aircraft fleet, and is considering purchasing planes from COMAC, with both teams already conducting rounds of communications, Izham Ismail, managing director of Malaysia Airlines' parent company Malaysia Aviation Group, said in an interview with the media outlet.

When asked about which types of China's domestically developed passenger aircraft the company is interested in - C909, C919 or C929 - Ismail said all are under consideration, according to the report. The Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, where Malaysia Airlines has operations, is suitable for COMAC's small aircraft, he said.

"The two sides will explore and promote cooperation on rail equipment, aerospace and nuclear power, support Malaysian airlines in introducing and operating Chinese commercial aircraft, and facilitate each other's industrial upgrading and energy transformation," according to the joint statement between China and Malaysia on Thursday.

In a joint statement issued by China and Cambodia on Friday, the two sides agreed to strengthen transport infrastructure facility cooperation including commercial aircraft. In a joint statement released on Tuesday, China and Vietnam agreed to support Vietnamese airlines in introducing and operating Chinese commercial aircraft and supporting further cooperation in China's commercial aircraft field, according to the Chinese government website.

Vietnamese budget airline VietJet Air plans to commence COMAC C909 operations starting Saturday after it sold tickets for flights on the Hanoi-Con Dao and Ho Chi Minh City-Con Dao routes, industry news portal Aviation Week Network reported on Wednesday.

VietJet will become the third international airline to operate the C909 after TransNusa Air Service and Lao Airlines, and is the largest airline group among the three, per the report.

On March 30, China's domestically produced C909 aircraft was delivered to Lao Airlines, marking its first entry into the Lao market, according to a press release sent to the Global Times.