First foreign 737 Max flight takes to skies in China after almost four years

THE first commercial Boeing 737 Max flight appeared to have resumed flying into China for the first time in almost four years, in what would be a major breakthrough for the US planemaker’s best-selling jet.

A Miat Mongolian Airlines flight operating a round-trip between Ulaanbaatar to Guangzhou landed in the southern Chinese city at 8.18 am local time on Monday (Oct 10), according to FlightRadar24 data. Miat Mongolian Airlines has the flight scheduled and listed to go again, using the 737 Max, on Oct 17 and Oct 24. Both trips are available for booking on the carrier’s website.

“We continue to work with global regulators and our customers to safely return the 737 Max to service worldwide,” Boeing said in an e-mailed statement, declining to comment further. Miat Mongolian Airlines couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Boeing officials met with China’s aviation regulator last month to review pilot training criteria for its Max jetliners, in a sign the planemaker is getting closer to securing all the necessary approvals to get the Max back up and flying in China - the last remaining major aviation market not to permit its resumption.

China was the first to ground the Max in March 2019 and held off approving its return long after US regulators lifted a ban in late 2020 and Europe and other places followed in subsequent months.

Returning the 737 Max to the skies in China and resuming deliveries are critical steps towards helping rebuild Boeing’s balance sheet, which was battered by the lengthy Max grounding and the Covid pandemic.

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Chinese airlines haven’t flown the plane commercially since two fatal crashes involving the model in October 2018 and March 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia respectively that combined killed 346 people. BLOOMBERG