After four years of grounding, China Southern finally operates the first Boeing 737 MAX flight in China. Two Boeing 737 MAX 8s, now known as the 737-8, returned to commercial passenger service with China Southern Airlines last January 13. This makes China Southern the first Chinese carrier to fly the Boeing 737 MAX since its grounding in 2019.
Flight CZ3960 departed from Guanzhou Baiyun International Airport at 12:45pm and arrived at Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport. The second flight was CZ8262 from Guangzhou to Wuhan Tianhe International Airport.
When the two crashes involving the Boeing 737 MAX, on Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, killed a combined 346 people in March 2019, China was the first government to ground the aircraft. Although the planes were given the green light by the government to resume service in December 2021, Chinese airlines have so far opted to put off using them, in part because of the ongoing tense trade tensions between the US and China.
In spite of this, Chinese airlines face a huge increase in demand for both domestic and international air travel due to the country’s recent opening of its borders and the forthcoming Lunar New Year holidays.
China Southern Boeing 737 MAX
China Southern Airlines currently operates 24 737 MAX 8s and has orders for 44 more. There are 150 seats available in economy, 24 in premium economy, and 4 in business on each of the airline’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes. Only China Southern Airlines operates frequently scheduled Boeing 737 MAX flights within China at this time. Air China and China Eastern Airlines also have the planes in their fleet, but neither company has said when or if they will put them back into service.
Boeing has a significant clientele in China. About one-third of all Boeing 737 MAX planes sold in the years leading up to the grounding were purchased by Chinese carriers. Despite the fact that China has not received any new aircraft since the grounding, Boeing estimates that Chinese airlines would need more than 8,000 new aircraft during the next 20 years in order to keep up with passenger demand.
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