WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing is set to restart deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner to China in the coming days, a source told Reuters, potentially paving the way for a thaw in deliveries of the 737 MAX that has been in place for more than four years. years by China.
Juneyao Airlines, a private Chinese airline, will receive a new 787 Dreamliner from Seattle, the United States, in Shanghai, a person familiar with the matter said. The plane could take off as early as Thursday.
Trade publication The Air Current reported on Wednesday that Boeing obtained critical approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in December.
Orders and deliveries of Boeing planes to China have been suspended since 2019 after two fatal 737 MAX crashes that led to the grounding of the aircraft, Boeing’s most profitable, worldwide.
Security bans were subsequently lifted and existing MAX aircraft were able to conduct domestic flights in China, but new deliveries remained on hold.
“We continue to support our customers in China and will be ready to deliver to our customers when the time comes,” Boeing said, reacting separately to Juneyao Airlines and the Air Current article.
Individual MAX deliveries to China still need to be approved by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), according to the Air Current article.
The CAAC and NDRC did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
A 737 MAX selected for China Southern Airlines made a round-trip flight from Boeing Airport in Seattle to the company’s nearby plant in Moses Lake, Washington, on Wednesday, according to the site flight tracking FlightRadar24.
Analysts at Jefferies and Deutsche Bank said in their notes to investors that it appeared to be a customer acceptance flight, namely a test flight carried out by an airline pilot before the delivery.
For Boeing, the resumption of deliveries would symbolize the reopening of the doors to the Chinese aeronautical market, one of the most important in the world. According to Boeing forecasts, China is expected to account for 20% of global aircraft demand until 2042.
(Reporting Sophie Yu in Beijing, Kanishka Singh, Costas Pitas and Valerie Insinna in Washington, written by Lisa Barrington; French version Stéphanie Hamel, edited by Blandine Hénault)
Copyright © 2023 Thomson Reuters