27-1-2024 (BEIJING) The maiden Boeing 737 MAX jet delivered to a Chinese airline since March 2019 touched down in China on Saturday, marking the end of an almost five-year import suspension on the planemaker’s most lucrative jets and potentially clearing the way for the delivery of a backlog of dozens of completed MAXs to China.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 departed from Seattle Boeing Field in Washington state on Wednesday after being transferred to China Southern Airlines. It made stops in Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands before its final journey to Guangzhou in southern China, according to tracking data from FlightRadar24.
China, the first country to ground MAX jets following two accidents in 2018 and 2019 that claimed nearly 350 lives, granted Boeing permission last month to resume deliveries of its 737 MAX 8 to local carriers.
While safety restrictions on the MAX have been lifted, new MAX deliveries had been on hold since early 2019 as tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated over various issues, including technology and national security concerns.
China’s approval is a significant boost for the U.S. planemaker, which faced challenges following a mid-air incident involving a cabin panel on a 737 MAX 9 jet operated by Alaska Airlines. The fallout led the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to prohibit Boeing from expanding production of its popular narrowbody planes. None of the Chinese airlines operate MAX 9 aircraft.
Chinese airlines have placed orders for at least 209 MAX planes from Boeing, as per aviation data provider Cirium.
In October, Boeing reported that out of the 250 finished MAX planes it had in its inventory, 85 were earmarked for customers in China. Although additional MAX jets were designated for Chinese clients, Boeing re-marketed 55 of them to other customers due to the import freeze last year.
The FAA’s involvement in production schedules could potentially delay some deliveries of new planes to airlines and affect suppliers already grappling with the fallout from an earlier MAX crisis and the pandemic.
Assuming Beijing continues to allow MAX imports, China is unlikely to be affected by Boeing’s production limitations as numerous planes for Chinese customers are poised for delivery.
Chinese airlines are expected to receive 64 MAX 8 jets in 2024 and 58 in 2025, according to Cirium data.
“Our data indicates that every single one of these expected (2024) deliveries has already flown and is in Boeing’s current production inventory,” stated Rob Morris, head of global consultancy at Ascend by Cirium.
“There is potential for a significant number of these aircraft to be delivered,” Morris added.
The MAX delivery follows Boeing’s direct delivery of a 787 Dreamliner to a Chinese customer in December, marking the first such delivery since 2019.
China represents one of the fastest-growing aerospace markets, with Boeing estimating that it will account for 20 per cent of the world’s aircraft demand through 2042.
