In China, Boeing’s 737 MAX production could be cleared for take-off after long delay on eastern island of Zhoushan

Boeing, the American aerospace giant, may soon resume operations at a completion-and-delivery facility in an eastern island city in China. This follows a long hiatus due to the global production suspension of the troubled 737 MAX. The possibility of resumption has been strengthened by the recent improvement in bilateral relations between China and the United States. Last month, the state media China Times reported that the facility could resume deliveries as early as mid-November, citing industry sources. Boeing has assured that they will be ready to deliver for their customers when the time comes. They continue to support their customers in China, with 99 per cent of their current 737 MAX fleet in service.

Since the 2018 US trade war, Boeing has received no new orders for passenger aircraft from mainland airlines. However, they had accumulated a significant number of orders prior to that. In March, Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Airlines announced an order for 15 Boeing 737-9 aircraft and five 787 Dreamliners. The Zhoushan facility in Zhejiang province, which has been idle for a long time, was established in 2018 to meet the growing demand for Boeing planes in China and the Asia-Pacific region. The completion-and-delivery centre is a joint venture with the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), and it produced the narrowbody 737 MAX.

The first delivery from the Zhoushan facility was made to Air China in December 2018. However, operations were suspended after the 737 MAX was grounded following two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that occurred less than five months apart, resulting in the death of 346 people. Earlier this year, China became the last major market to resume flying the 737 MAX amid ongoing trade tensions with the US. The plane’s return to the skies coincides with a rebound in domestic travel demand following China’s abandonment of its restrictive zero-Covid policy late last year.