CEA China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd

By Doug Cameron

Boeing Co. said it delivered a new jetliner direct to a Chinese airline in January, the first for 15 months into the world's second-largest air travel market.

China Eastern Airlines Corp. received the 777F freighter jet, Boeing said. It was one of 28 commercial deliveries by Boeing last month alongside four military versions of its jetliners, the company said Tuesday in a monthly update.

China was taking a quarter of all deliveries by Boeing and rival plane maker Airbus SE before the March 2019 grounding of the 737 MAX and the subsequent pandemic-driven slowdown in global travel.

Almost 200 jets were delivered by Boeing to Chinese airlines in 2018, but that slowed to a handful of cargo aircraft and some rented passenger planes.

Frosty U.S.-China trade relations curtailed Boeing deliveries into the country even before the pandemic, and company executives have said demand there is central to its plans to boost output of the 737 MAX and increase production of the 787 Dreamliner.

China's air-safety regulators in December issued a key safety approval for the 737 MAX, bringing the aircraft a step closer to resuming passenger service. Analysts said it could resume service in China as early as next month.

China Eastern is one of the country's big three state-controlled carriers. The government has ordered most aircraft centrally and allocated them to airlines, with leasing companies providing additional capacity. Boeing hasn't identified a new order from a Chinese passenger airline customer since late 2017.

Airbus delivered dozens of new jets into China over the past two years.

The latest China Eastern delivery was one of 32 jets Boeing said it handed over to customers in January, including 27 MAX planes. Boeing said it booked orders for 75 planes last month.

Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 08, 2022 11:14 ET (16:14 GMT)

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