A mannequin of Boeing 737 Max airliner is seen displayed on the China Worldwide Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, or Airshow China, in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Tune/File Photograph
April 7 (Reuters) – A Boeing Co (BA.N) 737 MAX meant for China Japanese Airways (600115.SS) subsidiary Shanghai Airways landed in Shanghai on Thursday, flight monitoring web sites confirmed, amid uncertainty over when the mannequin will resume flying in China.
Flight BOE631 from Guam got here greater than three weeks after the primary 737 MAX sure for a Chinese language buyer since a 2019 grounding started its journey from Seattle to Boeing’s completion plant in Zhoushan.
The aircraft, painted in Shanghai Airways livery, had been caught on the bottom in Guam since March 15 resulting from a minor technical difficulty. It landed at 12:02 p.m. Shanghai native time (0402 GMT), monitoring web sites confirmed. learn extra
Boeing mentioned it was bringing the aircraft to its facility in Zhoushan to be nearer to its buyer and help a clean and handy supply course of.
“The airplane will likely be delivered solely when the shopper is prepared,” Boeing mentioned in a press release.
China Japanese didn’t reply instantly to a request for remark.
The flight to Shanghai, which is in the course of a strict COVID-19 associated lockdown, got here as Chinese language authorities scrutinise China Japanese’s security processes following the crash of a 737-800 on March 21 that killed all 132 folks on board.
Whereas that mannequin is the predecessor to the MAX, analysts have expressed concern it might set again Boeing’s efforts to regain floor on this planet’s largest plane market and ship greater than 140 737 MAX jets already constructed for Chinese language clients.
China’s aviation regulator in early December supplied airways with an inventory of fixes required earlier than its return to industrial flying, which it predicted would happen by the start of this yr. Up to now, nevertheless, there have been solely take a look at flights.
China Japanese has grounded all 223 of its 737-800 planes as a precaution whereas the crash is investigated. Chinese language authorities are main the investigation however the U.S. Nationwide Transportation Security Board helps them to learn the aircraft’s black bins. learn extra
Relying on the outcomes of the probe, China Japanese dangers penalties together with fines, plane groundings and unfavourable remedy when making use of for brand new routes and airport slots, Morningstar analyst Cheng Weng mentioned. learn extra
China Japanese has not launched any forecast of when it expects MAX deliveries to renew, although rival China Southern Airways (600029.SS) mentioned final week it might take a few of the planes this yr. learn extra
Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney; extra reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle and Stella Qiu in Beijing
Modifying by Shri Navaratnam
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