By David Shepardson
(Reuters) – Boeing said on Tuesday it had resumed deliveries of its best-selling 737 MAX plane to China after a long delay due to regulatory issues.
Reuters reported on May 22 that Boeing plane deliveries to China had been delayed in recent weeks due to a Chinese regulatory review of the batteries that power the cockpit voice recorder.
The recovery is a boost for the U.S. planemaker, which had warned investors of delivery delays in China and is in the grip of a separate safety and quality crisis.
Deliveries of new Boeing jets to China have been intermittent since 2019, after two fatal MAX 8 crashes and amid growing tensions over issues ranging from technology to national security between Washington and Beijing.
Boeing announced on July 9 that it had delivered two 777 freighters to Air China, confirming Reuters reports that deliveries of the wide-body jets to China had resumed.
But Chinese carriers have yet to begin taking delivery of the single-aisle MAX jets. Reuters reported in June that 737 MAX deliveries were expected to resume as early as July.
China suspended most orders and deliveries of Boeing jets in 2019 after the 737 MAX was grounded worldwide.
Deliveries of wide-body jets resumed in December and narrow-body MAX jets resumed in January.
In a filing in late 2023, Boeing said it has about 140 737 MAX 8 aircraft in inventory, including 85 for customers in China. Boeing delivered 22 aircraft to China between early 2024 and April 30.
The aircraft manufacturer estimated on Saturday that Chinese airlines will need 8,830 new commercial aircraft by 2043.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)
