VietJet Aviation JSC signed a finance lease agreement with SPDB Financial Leasing on April 16, 2026, for 10 COMAC C909 regional jets, formalising a structured fleet commitment to Chinese-made aircraft that goes significantly beyond the airline’s previous short-term trial operations. The deal, concluded during Vietnam’s President To Lam’s state visit to China, carries both commercial and diplomatic weight and marks the most substantial international adoption of the C909 type by a Southeast Asian carrier to date.
Key Facts At A Glance
- Deal signed: April 16, 2026, at the Embassy of Vietnam in Beijing
- Lessee: VietJet Aviation JSC, listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange
- Lessor: SPDB Financial Leasing, a subsidiary of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank
- Aircraft type: COMAC C909 narrow-body regional jet, capacity 78–97 passengers
- Number of aircraft: 10, structured as finance leases via operating lease arrangements
- Financial terms: Not disclosed by either party
- Delivery timeline: Not disclosed
- Current fleet: Approximately 135 aircraft, predominantly Airbus models
- Vietjet 2025 consolidated revenue: VND82.093 trillion, approximately $3.16 billion, up 14% year on year
- Vietjet 2025 consolidated post-tax profit: VND2.123 trillion, approximately $81.7 million, up 51.2% year on year
- New Vietnam–China routes announced alongside deal: Hanoi–Hangzhou, Hanoi–Enshi, Hanoi–Huangshan, Ho Chi Minh City–Guilin, Ho Chi Minh City–Huangshan; Hanoi–Enshi and Ho Chi Minh City–Guilin already in operation as of early April 2026
A Deal Signed At The Highest Level
The signing ceremony took place at the Embassy of Vietnam in Beijing on April 16, 2026, in the presence of Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Phan Van Giang and senior officials from both governments, alongside representatives of major Vietnamese and Chinese enterprises. The event coincided with a four-day state visit to China by Vietnam’s General Secretary and President To Lam at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, placing the commercial agreement firmly within the context of high-level diplomatic and economic engagement between the two countries.
SPDB Financial Leasing, the counterparty to the agreement, is a subsidiary of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, one of China’s major state-linked commercial banks with significant experience in large-scale infrastructure and aviation project financing.
From Trial To Structured Commitment
Vietjet’s history with the C909 has been stop-start. The airline first operated two C909s on a wet-lease arrangement with Chengdu Airlines between April and October 2025, primarily deploying them on flights to Con Dao island, whose airport runway cannot accommodate Vietjet’s standard Airbus A320-family aircraft. That contract was allowed to expire in October 2025, with sources citing costs associated with foreign crew and maintenance services as factors in the decision not to renew immediately. The arrangement was subsequently restarted, and the two C909s have continued operating in Vietjet’s network.
The April 2026 finance lease agreement represents a materially different commitment. Where the earlier arrangement was a wet-lease covering two aircraft from a Chinese operator, the new deal is a structured finance lease directly between Vietjet and a financial institution, covering ten aircraft. Vietjet has described the agreement as laying the foundation to introduce COMAC aircraft on routes connecting Vietnam and China, suggesting the C909s will be deployed on the newly launched international corridors rather than exclusively on domestic constrained-runway routes.
The COMAC C909 Aircraft
The COMAC C909, previously designated the ARJ21-700, is a narrow-body regional jet developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China and manufactured in Shanghai. It is configured for 78 to 97 passengers and carries a range of 2,225 to 3,700 kilometres, making it suited to short and medium-haul regional operations. The aircraft is powered by twin GE CF34 engines mounted at the rear fuselage, a configuration that supports operations from shorter runways and smaller airports.
COMAC delivered 21 C909 aircraft in 2025, down from 37 in 2024, a contraction attributed in part to supply chain constraints linked to its dependence on GE Aerospace-supplied engines, which has created production uncertainties at times of elevated US-China trade and technology tensions. The type has seen limited international adoption, with most deliveries concentrated among Chinese domestic carriers. Vietjet, with up to 10 units under the new agreement, could become one of the largest operators of the C909 outside China.
Fleet Context And Strategic Significance
Vietjet operates approximately 135 aircraft and holds firm orders for close to 600 jets from Airbus and Boeing combined. Its Airbus order book includes 280 firm orders for the A321neo and 40 for the A330-900 widebody, in addition to a 200-aircraft Boeing 737 MAX order placed on behalf of its Thai subsidiary. The airline completed a significant fleet expansion in 2025, taking delivery of 22 aircraft across its Vietnamese and Thai operations.
Against this backdrop, the COMAC commitment is proportionally limited in scale, but strategically meaningful. It diversifies Vietjet’s fleet composition beyond its established Western supplier relationships, deepens the airline’s access to China-oriented financing, and provides political signalling value within the Vietnam–China bilateral relationship. The deal was one of several commercial agreements signed during President To Lam’s state visit, a pattern consistent with how both countries have historically used high-level diplomatic events to anchor commercial partnerships.
Financial Performance Underpinning Expansion
Vietjet reported full-year 2025 consolidated revenue of VND82.093 trillion, approximately $3.16 billion, a 14 percent increase compared to 2024. Consolidated post-tax profit rose 51.2 percent to VND2.123 trillion, approximately $81.7 million, exceeding 120 percent of the airline’s internal annual target. Total assets stood at VND139.459 trillion, approximately $5.37 billion, at December 31, 2025. The airline carried 28.2 million passengers across 153,000 flights for the full year, with domestic and international market share leadership in Vietnam by passenger volume.
The airline issued 50 million new shares during 2025, raising equity by approximately VND5 trillion to support long-term growth financing. Its net debt-to-equity ratio stood at 2.25 and its liquidity ratio at 1.53 at year end, figures the company has described as among the strongest in the regional aviation sector. These results provide the financial backdrop for Vietjet’s expanding fleet commitments heading into 2026, including the COMAC agreement.