China Aircraft Lessor Orders 50 Boeing 737 MAX Jets

China Development Bank (CDB) Financial Leasing announced that its aircraft leasing unit will order 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets, providing a boost to Boeing, which has been facing a slowdown in Chinese orders and a strike by factory workers, Adwitiya Srivastava, Sophie Yu, and Allison Lampert reported for Reuters.

Boeing's deliveries to China have been slowly recovering in recent months after a lengthy pause. I Photo: Oleg V. Belyakov Wikimedia Commons

Chinese orders for Boeing planes had significantly slowed since the deterioration of Sino-US trade relations in 2018 and Boeing’s long process to return the MAX to service in China after two fatal crashes.

The order for 50 MAX jets is the largest by a Chinese customer since China Southern Airlines ordered the same number in 2015, according to Boeing's website.

This MAX order is the second major aircraft deal announced by CDB Financial Leasing in a week, following an order for 80 Airbus A320neo planes, with deliveries expected to begin in 2030.

Boeing's deliveries to China have been slowly recovering in recent months after a lengthy pause.

CDB Aviation Lease will take delivery of the planes between 2028 and 2031, its parent company said in a statement, adding that this move would increase the proportion of next-generation aircraft in its fleet.

The deal comes shortly after more than 30,000 Boeing factory workers went on strike, demanding higher pay, halting production of the MAX and other airplanes. Boeing said on Wednesday that tens of thousands of workers would be temporarily suspended due to the strike.