Boeing Delivers 2,000th Jet To China

Boeing has delivered its 2000th commercial aircraft to China with the handing over of a 737 MAX 8 to Xiamen Airlines.

Boeing’s Chinese market has accelerated significantly over the past few years, with its first 1,000 deliveries taking four decades, but the second only five years. The US airframer said a quarter of its commercial aircraft production now goes to Chinese operators, either directly or through lessors.

Boeing SVP Ihssane Mounir said the company’s industrial relationship with Chinese airlines “has been mutually beneficial, fuelling significant growth in Boeing's business, the US economy, and the Chinese aviation industry.”

China's commercial aircraft fleet is expected to more than double over the next 20 years, Boeing forecasts, and that China will need 7,690 new planes by 2038. That volume of business is valued at USD$1.2 trillion.

Xiamen Airlines chairman Che Shanglun said his company is pleased to be a part of the historic delivery. “In our 34-year history of operations, Xiamen Airlines has steadily grown, doubling our fleet size over the past five years and achieving profits for 31 years in a row. Throughout that time, Boeing has been a valued partner in our growth and expansion by providing safe and reliable airplanes.”

Xiamen Airlines is one of Boeing's 30 plus commercial customers in China, in a market where Boeing jets account for more than half of the 3,000 jets flying in the country.