Boeing says Chinese airlines resumed operating all 737 MAXs in 2023

By Reuters December 29, 2023 | 12:11 am PT

The Boeing logo is seen on the side of a Boeing 737 MAX at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, July 20, 2022. Photo by Reuters

All Boeing 737 MAX jets operated by Chinese carriers are back in service at the end of 2023, the U.S. planemaker's China head said on Friday, nearly a year after they started returning following a global grounding in 2019.

The best-selling Boeing model was grounded after fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The MAX returned to service around the world starting in late 2020 after modifications to the aircraft and pilot training, but Chinese airlines started to fly them again only in January 2023.

"All China civil aviation 737 MAXs have resumed operations," Boeing China CEO Liu Qing said on Chinese social media, adding this amounted to nearly 100 planes.

Liu also said Boeing has delivered new planes to Chinese clients this year, though he did not specify which models.

Boeing last week made its first direct delivery of a 787 Dreamliner to China since 2019, a step seen as a possible prelude to the end of Beijing's freeze on 737 MAX deliveries.

Boeing has been virtually frozen out of new orders from China since 2017 amid Sino-U.S. trade tensions.

A restart of MAX deliveries would represent a reset of Boeing's relationship with China and be a financial boon that would allow it to offload dozens of planes in its inventory.