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China still has significant safety concerns about Boeing Co.’s 737 Max, the deputy chief of the country’s aviation regulator said on Monday when asked if he was considering following others to allow the plane to fly again.
After the issues have been fully addressed, China will carry out a final overhaul of the plane, Dong Zhiyi said at a briefing in Beijing. Authorities have been in “full communication” with Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration, he said.
China, a crucial market for Boeing and Max, was the first country to impose a ban on the plane after a crash in Ethiopia in March 2019 that killed 157 people. In the previous October, a Max aircraft operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air sank in the Java Sea, claiming 189 lives. Both disasters were attributed in part to the software that sent the planes plummeting.
Other nations followed China’s lead in banning flights, resulting in the Max being grounded globally for about 20 months. Several countries have certified it to fly again in recent months and it is back in service in places like the United States, Europe and Brazil. Australia lifted the ban on the plane last week, as did Saudi Arabia on Monday, state media reported. But China has not moved.
A Boeing spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Boeing’s orders in China have largely sold out in the past four years amid increased tension between Washington and Beijing over trade and other areas, as well as concern over the Max, which was a best-seller.
“I think when a constructive relationship starts, things will calm down and the Chinese will want to buy planes,” Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in December, the same month Max returned to commercial service in the US. the first time since grounding.
China has three main criteria that must be met before allowing the Max to fly again: Design changes intended to fix the plane’s problems must be approved by China, pilots must be retrained to fly the planes after those changes. and the conclusions. Accident reports from Ethiopia and Indonesia must be clear.
The country’s major airlines, Air China Ltd., China Southern Airlines Co. and China Eastern Airlines Corp., are all Max customers, along with 10 other Chinese airlines.
In its latest outlook on the Chinese market, Boeing said that the country will continue to be the main driver of global growth in the aviation industry for the next 20 years. Chinese airlines are likely to buy 8,600 new planes worth $ 1.4 trillion during the period, the US manufacturer said.
