Boeing opens first Mainland China completion and delivery centre

by DOMINIC LALK  

December 1st 2018

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In mid-December, Boeing moved a step closer to catching up with Airbus in China when it opened its B737 completion and delivery centre in Zhoushan, an island off the coast of Zhejiang province and close to Ningbo and Shanghai. Read More » The facility will cater exclusively to Mainland customers. Air China was the first airline to accept a B737 MAX 8 at the Zhoushan centre.

Boeing said the facility would have an annual capacity of 100 B737 completions and deliveries. The completion centre is a 60/40% joint venture with Mainland OEM, COMAC, the manufacturer of the C919. Boeing fully owns the delivery centre.

“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. “This is a significant milestone in 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,” COMAC president, Zhao Yuerang, said at the opening ceremony.

Speaking to Orient Aviation at the event, Boeing China president, John Bruns, said there was “always a desire to do more”, but for the time being, the U.S. manufacturer has no plans to build a B737 MAX final assembly line (FAL) in China, or a completion and delivery centre for the B787 and B777X wide body programs.

Bruns said one of the major challenges of increasing the OEM’s footprint on the Mainland was a lack of local technical talent. The aerospace giant is investing heavily in training and has partnered with a local college in Zhoushan to secure adequate future manpower.

He said the Zhoushan plant would free up capacity at Boeing’s B737 production site in Renton in Seattle and would enable the OEM to increase output from 52 B737s a month this year to 57 aircraft per month in 2019.