A model of Boeing 737 Max airliner is seen displayed at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, or Airshow China, in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song
March 15, 2022
(Fixes byline/dateline)
By Stella Qiu and Jamie Freed
BEIJING/SYDNEY (Reuters) – A Boeing 737 MAX jet that took off from Seattle on Monday is en route to the manufacturer’s completion plant in China, an industry source said, in a sign the model is closer to returning to commercial flights there after a three-year grounding.
Flight tracking websites showed the plane, painted in the livery of Shanghai Airlines – a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines – was heading to Hawaii.
The source, who was not authorised to speak publicly, said it was the first fuel stop of a multi-day journey.
The Zhoushan plant, used for installing interiors before delivery, opened in December 2018, a few months before a second fatal MAX crash led China to ground the model.
“If this points to a delivery, it will be the first MAX delivery to China since March 2019, which is material as the country historically has represented 17% of deliveries,” Jefferies analysts said in a note to clients.
China’s aviation regulator in early December provided airlines with a list of fixes required before its return to commercial flying, which it predicted would occur by the beginning of this year.
So far, however, there have been only test flights, in a move that has also delayed deliveries of more than 100 MAX jets already built for Chinese customers that are located at Boeing sites in the United States.
Boeing Chief Executive David Calhoun said on Jan. 26 that his company was getting ready to deliver those planes as early as the first quarter, once the fleet already in China returned to service.
Boeing declined to comment on the MAX flight to Zhoushan.
The planemaker said in a statement that it continued to work with regulators and customers on the MAX return to service worldwide.
Chinese airlines are in no rush to bring back the MAX because of falling domestic demand amid the biggest COVID-19 outbreaks in two years, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
(Reporting by Stella Qiu in Beijing and Jamie Freed in Sydney; additional reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu in Beijing and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle Editing by Christopher Cushing and Kenneth Maxwell)
