THE first Boeing 737 MAX jet delivered to a Chinese airline since March 2019 landed in china last Saturday, ending an almost five-year import freeze on the planemaker's most profitable jets and heralding the potential delivery of a backlog of dozens of finished MAXs to China.
The 737 MAX 8 left Seattle Boeing field in Washington state on Wednesday after being handed over to China Southern Airlines, stopping in Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands before its final leg to Guangzhou in southern China, tracking data from FlightRadar24 shows.
China, which was the first country to ground MAX jets after two MAX 8 accidents in 2018 and 2019 that killed nearly 350 people, gave Boeing permission last month to resume deliveries of its 737 MAX 8 to local customers, reports Reuters.
While safety bans on the MAX have been lifted, new MAX deliveries had remained on hold since early 2019 as tensions between Washington and Beijing over issues ranging from technology to national security intensified.
China's green light is a boost to the US planemaker, which has been hit by the fallout from a mid-air blowout of a cabin panel on a 737 MAX 9 jet operated by Alaska Airlines, including the US Federal Aviation Administration barring Boeing from expanding production of its best-selling narrowbody planes. No Chinese airlines operate MAX 9 aircraft.
Chinese airlines have at least 209 MAX planes on order from Boeing, according to aviation data provider Cirium.
SeaNews Turkey
The 737 MAX 8 left Seattle Boeing field in Washington state on Wednesday after being handed over to China Southern Airlines, stopping in Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands before its final leg to Guangzhou in southern China, tracking data from FlightRadar24 shows.
China, which was the first country to ground MAX jets after two MAX 8 accidents in 2018 and 2019 that killed nearly 350 people, gave Boeing permission last month to resume deliveries of its 737 MAX 8 to local customers, reports Reuters.
While safety bans on the MAX have been lifted, new MAX deliveries had remained on hold since early 2019 as tensions between Washington and Beijing over issues ranging from technology to national security intensified.
China's green light is a boost to the US planemaker, which has been hit by the fallout from a mid-air blowout of a cabin panel on a 737 MAX 9 jet operated by Alaska Airlines, including the US Federal Aviation Administration barring Boeing from expanding production of its best-selling narrowbody planes. No Chinese airlines operate MAX 9 aircraft.
Chinese airlines have at least 209 MAX planes on order from Boeing, according to aviation data provider Cirium.
SeaNews Turkey
