China warming to Boeing 737 MAX return with aviation officials open to test flights

China’s aviation regulators in March said they had ‘major concerns’ about the plane, including design changes, new pilot training and the causes of two crashes

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted the grounding in November, and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Transport Canada soon followed

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China was the first nation to ground the Max, acting within hours of a fatal crash in Ethiopia in March 2019, and has not allowed the single-aisle workhorse to fly since, crimping jet sales in Boeing’s largest overseas market. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:15am, 9 Jul 2021Updated: 10:05am, 9 Jul 2021

Chinese aviation officials have signalled they are open to conducting flight tests on Boeing 737 MAX, a step toward lifting the plane’s grounding in that nation after more than two years, according to people familiar with the matter.

Details of a validation flight for the Max in China are still being worked out, but the discussions are a sign of possible progress in what has become a lengthy stand-off over the plane, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.

Boeing is preparing to send a delegation of around 35 pilots and engineers to meet with regulators in late July after they undergo weeks of quarantine, one of the people said.

It could still take many months after such a flight before China’s air regulators wrap up their work and lift the flying ban – particularly if there is no break in the heightened trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

It’s nothing to do with aviation, safety or aviation safety. It’s way above our pay grades, way above our heads. It’s geopolitics

Richard Aboulafia

China’s regulators in March said they had “major concerns” about the plane, including design changes, new pilot training and the causes of the two Max crashes.