China Operates First Boeing 737 Max Passenger Flight Since 2019

  • Country was the first to ground Max after second deadly crash
  • China is a crucially important market to American planemaker
A 737 Max 8 plane destined for China Southern Airlines at the Boeing Co. manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington, US, in 2019.Photographer: David Ryder/Bloomberg
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Boeing Co.’s 737 Max finally returned to commercial service in China after a nearly four-year absence, a major boost to one of America’s top exporters in its most important foreign market.

China Southern Airlines Co., the country’s largest airline, operated the service Friday using the first 737-8 Max that Boeing delivered to it in November 2017. A Chinese airline hadn’t flown passengers on a Max since the model was grounded in March 2019 following crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people.