Lao Airlines (QV, Vientiane) has become the second non-Chinese operator to put the C909 into service. RDPL-34229 (msn 10156) entered into scheduled operations on April 12 on the Vientiane-Pakse route. To date, the only other non-Chinese operator of COMAC aircraft is TransNusa (8B, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta).
"We’re excited to introduce the newest member of the Lao Airlines fleet - the C909," the Lao Airlines website declares. The 90-passenger all-economy aircraft wearing Lao Airlines livery was acquired via a "strategic lease partnership with COMAC." This followed the Laos Department of Civil Aviation issuing a type certificate for the C909 (previously branded as the ARJ21) on March 18.
The airline took delivery of the aircraft on March 30, 2025.
AeroRoutes reports, effective April 12, that RDPL-34229 will operate 21 weekly flights on the Pakse route, replacing ATR72s. Starting on April 13, RDPL-34229 will also operate 12x weekly on the Vientiane-Savannakhet city pair, replacing ATR72s and A320-200s.
Neither COMAC nor Lao Airlines responded to a request for comment. However, COMAC is now actively marketing its regional jet on international markets, predominantly in Asia.
Efforts are underway in Viet Nam to have a C909-type certificate issued, allowing Viet Nam-based airlines to begin using it. Earlier this month, VietJetAir (VJ, Hanoi Noi Bai International) announced plans to use the C909 on flights between Hanoi and Con Dao as soon as mid-April. However, at the time of publication, Viet Nam does not appear to have issued the type certificate. Previous plans by VietJet to wet-lease two C909s from Chengdu Airlines (EU, Chengdu Shuangliu) over the busy 2025 Lunar New Year holiday season were scuttled because no type certificate was issued in time.
