Boeing completed the delivery of a 787 Dreamliner to Juneyao Airlines, marking the first aircraft handed over to a Chinese company since 2019.
The delivery ceremony took place at Boeing’s facilities in Everett, Washington, and the aircraft embarked on its journey to Shanghai Pudong. Despite a report by the Seattle-based manufacturer highlighting China as a growing market, Boeing deliveries had been halted since the global grounding of the 737 MAX fleet.
The aircraft delivered to Juneyao Airlines is a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with registration B-20EC, aged 4 years and built at the Everett facilities. Designed to carry 324 passengers in two classes, it is equipped with General Electric GEnx-1B engines.
The American company also acknowledged that diplomatic tensions at times influenced the suspension of new aircraft deliveries to China. It is noteworthy that Chinese authorities extended the suspension of the 737 MAX beyond what other operators worldwide had implemented.
“We continue to support our customers in China and will be ready to meet their needs when the time comes,” said a Boeing spokesperson.
Boeing has approximately 85 aircraft ready for delivery to Chinese operators, all belonging to the 737 MAX family. In September, the company published a study forecasting that China will require 8,560 new aircraft by 2042, representing 20% of global demand.
