The three largest Chinese airlines have formally asked for compensation from Boeing over the grounding of the troubled 737 Max.
Air China confirmed to FlightGlobal that it has sought compensation from the aircraft manufacturer over losses from the grounding of its fleet.
Cirium’s fleets data shows that Air China has 16 737 Max 8s in storage, and has another four aircraft on order.
China Southern and China Eastern Airlines did not respond to FlightGlobal’s request for comments, but CCTV reported that both carriers have also filed compensation claims with Boeing over the Max grounding.
Fleets data shows that China Southern has 24 737 Max 8 aircraft, with another 35 on order.
China Eastern does not operate any 737 Max aircraft, but its China Eastern Yunnan subsidiary has four in storage, and its Shanghai Airlines subsidiary has 11 in storage.
The Chinese carriers join other carriers such as Turkish Airlines and Flydubai in seeking out compensation from Boeing.
On 21 May, Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci told FlightGlobal that “compensation is on the table” in its discussions with Boeing.
Boeing says that it does not comment on its customer discussions.
No indication has been given so far about when the beleaguered aircraft, the subject of a worldwide ban, will return to the skies. Boeing said on 16 May that it has completed the software update development of the 737 Max, and is now working the US Federal Aviation Administration to schedule its certification test flight.
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Source: Cirium Dashboard
