Nearly five years after the two fatal accidents which led to its immobilization, the single-aisle Boeing 737 MAX finally takes off again, the Airlines companies renewing their confidence with a record number of orders at the Dubai Air Show and China may soon lift the freeze of purchases from the plane.
Beijing is considering authorizing Chinese airlines to resume purchases of 737 MAX planes, after the meeting between American Presidents Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for today at the APEC summit in San Francisco. reported the agency Bloomberg Newsciting sources familiar with the matter.
As a reminder, deliveries of the 737 MAX to Chinese airlines were interrupted following two deadly crashes. China’s resumption of single-aisle orders would be significant for Boeing’s bottom line over the next six to 18 months, analysts agree.
In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX-8 crashed shortly after takeoff from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, killing all 157 passengers and crew on board. This accident followed that of a Lion Air 737 MAX-8 in the Java Sea, Indonesia, five months earlier, which cost the lives of all 189 people on board.
And yet, at the Dubai Airshow this week, Ethiopian Airlines placed an order for 20 new Boeing 737 MAX-8s (and also 11 long-haul Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners). “We believe we have verified and confirmed that the design flaw of this plane has been completely corrected by Boeing“, the CEO of the Ethiopian airline, Mesfin Tasew, told the press.
