Kyrgyzstan’s state-owned Asman Airlines is evaluating the COMAC C909 and C919 even though its parent company has already signed an agreement to acquire two Airbus A321ceos and plans to build a fleet of ten A321s.
Asman and the Chinese manufacturer have agreed to study the possible acquisition of both aircraft types. COMAC will provide technical and commercial information, while the companies will calculate operating costs based on the airline’s existing and planned routes.
The discussions remain at an early stage. No aircraft quantity, delivery schedule or financial terms have been disclosed, and representatives of Asman are expected to visit COMAC’s production facilities in Shanghai.
The talks will also cover the validation of the Chinese aircraft’s type certificates by Kyrgyzstan’s State Civil Aviation Agency.
Two Airbus A321ceos due in 2026
The COMAC discussions come seven months after Airports of Kyrgyzstan, Asman’s state-owned parent company, signed an agreement with BBAM Aircraft Leasing & Management for two Airbus A321ceos.
Although Kyrgyz officials have described the transaction as an agreement with Airbus, the documents were signed by Airports of Kyrgyzstan and BBAM. Airbus Europe President Johan Pelissier attended the ceremony in Bishkek.
The two aircraft are scheduled to reach Kyrgyzstan by the end of 2026 and will allow Asman to begin operating medium-haul international services. Their identities and previous operators have not been disclosed.
The deal followed negotiations involving Asman, Airports of Kyrgyzstan and Airbus. In February 2025, the country’s civil aviation authority said new A320neo and A321neo aircraft were under consideration for a direct acquisition from the manufacturer.
Asman later adopted a plan to add another eight A321s over five years, taking the projected fleet to ten aircraft. No contracts have been announced for the remaining eight jets, and Kyrgyz officials have not identified whether they would be new or used aircraft.
The airline has also mentioned the Boeing 737 among the types considered for its international expansion, but no agreement with Boeing has been disclosed.
Dash 8 fleet remains the operational core
Asman currently operates three 80-seat De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprops on domestic routes and short international services within Central Asia.
A fourth refurbished Dash 8-400 is due to join the airline later in 2026 under a purchase agreement announced by De Havilland Canada in March.
The airline began operations in September 2024 and is wholly owned by Airports of Kyrgyzstan. Its network connects Bishkek with regional cities and remote communities, in addition to international destinations such as Almaty, Tashkent and Khujand.
The C909 could give Asman an aircraft positioned between the Dash 8-400 and the larger A321, while the C919 would overlap more directly with the carrier’s planned single-aisle jet fleet. The company has not said whether the COMAC models could replace some of the eight additional A321s or would support a separate expansion plan.
Chinese aircraft require local validation
Neither the C909 nor the C919 holds an aircraft type certificate issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency or the US Federal Aviation Administration.
The absence of those approvals does not prevent Kyrgyzstan from accepting the aircraft, but its regulator would have to validate the certificates issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
Indonesia followed this route before the C909, then known as the ARJ21, entered service with TransNusa. The Indonesian regulator validated the Chinese certificate and issued its own approval for the aircraft in January 2022.
Vietnam used a different approach. Its government changed national regulations in 2025 to recognize type certificates issued by the Chinese authority, alongside approvals from the FAA, EASA and regulators in several other aircraft-manufacturing countries.
Vietjet initially used two C909s under an arrangement with Chengdu Airlines and signed a finance lease agreement for ten aircraft in April 2026.
China expands role in Kyrgyzstan
The aircraft discussions follow a period of closer economic and political relations between Kyrgyzstan and China, which share a land border.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Bishkek in August for meetings with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. The two governments identified transport, trade, investment, mining, energy and digital technology among their areas of cooperation.
China is also backing the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway, a major Belt and Road project intended to create a new corridor between China and Central Asia.
Asman’s international plans received another opening in June, when the European Commission removed all Kyrgyz-certified airlines from the EU Air Safety List. Carriers from the country had been prohibited from operating in the bloc for nearly 20 years.
