Boeing’s 737 Max begins flights to China after four-year hiatus

Bloomberg

The first commercial Boeing Co. 737 Max flight appeared to have resumed flying into China for the first time in almost four years, in what would be a major breakthrough for the US planemaker’s best-selling jet.
A MIAT Mongolian Airlines flight operating a round-trip between Ulaanbaatar to Guangzhou landed in the southern Chinese city at 8:18am local time on Monday, according to FlightRadar24 data. MIAT Mongolian Airlines has the flight scheduled and listed to go again, using the 737 Max, on October 17 and October 24. Both trips are available for booking on the carrier’s website.
“We continue to work with global regulators and our customers to safely return the 737 Max to service worldwide,” Boeing said in an e-mailed statement. MIAT Mongolian Airlines couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Boeing officials met with China’s aviation regulator last month to review pilot training criteria for its Max jetliners, in a sign the planemaker is getting closer to securing all the necessary approvals to get the Max back up and flying in China — the last remaining major aviation market not to permit its resumption.
China was the first to ground the Max in March 2019 and held off approving its return long after US regulators lifted a ban in late 2020 and Europe and other places followed in subsequent months.
Returning the 737 Max to the skies in China and resuming deliveries are critical steps towards helping rebuild Boeing’s balance sheet, which was battered by the lengthy Max grounding and the Covid pandemic.
Chinese airlines haven’t flown the plane commercially since two fatal crashes involving the model in October 2018 and March 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia respectively that combined killed 346 people.
Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun said last month that a small number of jets earmarked for China were being shopped elsewhere as deliveries stalled — Chinese airlines haven’t taken any 737 Max jets since early 2019.
Aviation data provider Cirium calculated that Chinese airlines have 229 Max planes on order, including more than 100 newly-built ones waiting in Boeing factories. Boeing forecast in 2021 that Chinese airlines will need 8,700 new aircraft by 2040, valued at nearly $1.5 trillion.
The country’s fleet size is expected to grow much faster that the world average, with almost 20% of new global demand coming from Chinese airlines, according to the company.
But China’s economy is faltering now, and the country’s draconian approach to Covid-19 is weighing on spending.
“China will remain a very important market to us. We count on it,” he said. “Our relationship with our airline customers is very strong. We’re engaging with them,” Boeing’s top salesman Ihssane Mounir told reporters at the Farnborough airshow in July.