Boeing delivers its first aircraft from Chinese completion centre

Boeing has delivered its first aircraft, a 737 MAX 8 for Air China, from the new completion and delivery centre in Zhoushan, China. The new facility in the Zhejiang province is the first such Boeing facility outside of the United States.

Congratulations to Boeing for delivering the first 737 MAX from Zhoushan. This is a significant milestone of Boeing’s efforts to deepen its footprint in China, as well as to support the growth of China’s airline industry, opening an era of the collaboration between the two airplane manufacturers of us.Zhao Yuerang, president of COMAC.

The centre is designed to support the entire 737 MAX family of airplanes, from the MAX 7 to the high-capacity MAX 10. Boeing 737s for Chinese airlines, which are about one-third of all 737 deliveries, will be flown from Seattle to Zhoushan, where the joint Boeing-COMAC completion facility will complete the interior work on the airplanes. Furthermore, it is planned to add three paint hangers to complete the final painting in Zhoushan as well.

About 100 Boeing 737 airplanes will be delivered from the new facility in Zhoushan per year.

Competitor Airbus is already building some of its aircraft in China. A final assembly line in Tianjin, opened in 2008, is constructing the Airbus A320 family and a completion centre at the same airport carries out cabin installations and painting for Airbus A330 widebody aircraft.