Boeing has restarted wide-body jet deliveries to China that were halted in recent weeks due to a Chinese regulatory review which also stalled new narrow-body deliveries by the U.S. planemaker.
- New Boeing deliveries to China have been off and on since 2019 after two fatal crashes of MAX 8 jets and amid intensifying tensions over issues ranging from technology to national security between Washington and Beijing.
- The resumption is a boost to Boeing, which had flagged the China delivery delay to investors, and which is engulfed in a separate safety and quality crisis.
- Reuters first reported in May that the company’s plane deliveries to China had been temporarily halted. The halt was due to a review by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) of batteries contained in the 25-hour cockpit voice recorder.
Orders of wide-body 777 and 787 planes are expected to be delivered in the coming days, with 737 MAX deliveries set to resume as early as July.
In a year-end 2023 filing, Boeing said it had about 140 737 MAX 8 aircraft in inventory, including 85 aircraft for customers in China. Boeing delivered 22 aircraft to China between the start of 2024 and the end of April.
The planemaker estimates Chinese airlines will need 8,560 new commercial planes by 2042.
Boeing’s all-important commercial airplane unit revenue dropped 31% to US$ 4.65 billion in the first quarter of 2024 compared with last year, with negative margins widening to 24.6% from 9.2%, including the impact of US$ 443 million in compensation to Boeing customers because of the Jan. 5 accident and temporary grounding of the planes.
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