ZHOUSHAN, China, Dec. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing and
joint venture partner Commercial Aircraft Corporation of
China, Ltd (COMAC) today
celebrated the delivery of the first airplane from the new 737
Completion and Delivery Center in Zhoushan, China. Air China received the first plane, marking a new
era in Boeing's partnership with the Chinese aviation industry.
Delivery of the first MAX 8, assembled in Renton, Wash. and completed in China, comes 20 months after construction
began at the 100-acre site. The 737 Completion and Delivery Center
is the first such Boeing facility outside of the United States. The facility has been built
in partnership with the Zhejiang Provincial and Zhoushan Municipal
Governments and will become fully operational in phases as capacity
is expanded over time.
"This moment signifies our growing partnership with China that stretches back over nearly half a
century," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO
Kevin McAllister. "We're proud of
our long relationship with the Chinese government, airlines and
industry partners and the trust they place in Boeing."
Boeing 737 MAXs for Chinese airlines will be flown from
Seattle to Zhoushan, where the
joint Boeing-COMAC Completion Center will complete interior work on
the airplanes. The statement of work will gradually expand to
include painting with the addition of three paint hangers.
Once completed, airplanes will move to the adjacent Boeing-operated
delivery center for customer acceptance activities and delivery
formalities.
"Congratulations to Boeing for delivering the first 737 MAX from
Zhoushan," said Zhao Yuerang, president of COMAC. "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."
The facility, which covers 666,000 sq ft in total, is designed
to support the entire 737 MAX family of airplanes, from the
long-range MAX 7 to the high-capacity MAX 10. With about one
third of all 737 deliveries going to Chinese customers, the
Zhoushan facility will enable Chinese airline customers to update
and expand their fleets with the most technologically-advanced
Boeing single-aisle airplanes available. In addition, the business
and the partnerships Boeing is developing in China are integral to adding capacity and
aerospace jobs in the U.S
China is on course to become
the largest commercial aviation market in the world. Boeing's
latest Commercial Market Outlook forecasts that China will need 7,680 new airplanes worth
$1.2 trillion USD over the next 20
year and another $1.5 trillion USD in
commercial services to support the country's growing fleet of
airplanes.
Contact:
Yukui Wang
Boeing China Communications
+86 10 5925 5505
yukui.wang@boeing.com
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SOURCE Boeing