China’s Commercial Aviation Market: A Look at Boeing and Airbus Sales Amidst Pandemic and Geopolitical Tensions

In recent years, China has moved closer to becoming the world’s largest commercial aviation market. China accounted for almost a third of Boeing 737 aircraft purchases by 2019, Bloomberg writes.

However, with the Covid-19 pandemic and Boeing’s reputational problems, the largest Asian market began to close for the American airline.

According to the data of researchers “Cirium”, since 2020, the European competitor “Airbus” has delivered 384 airplanes to the country, while “Boeing” – only four.

After Airbus signed a deal last July to sell 292 planes to China, according to Bloomberg, Boeing bemoaned “geopolitical differences” blocking its plane exports, saying the $10 billion worth of planes destined for China are stuck in the uncertainty of sanctions and disputes between the two superpowers.

By September, Boeing offered these planes to other buyers.

However, in recent months, Boeing’s fortunes in China have changed. In January, the government lifted pandemic restrictions, revealing travel growth approaching pre-Covid-19 levels, and a few weeks later China allowed the 737 Max, which had been banned due to safety concerns, to fly.

Despite the fact that relations between the United States and China are escalating, Boeing executives are increasingly confident that within a few weeks its planes could once again reach Chinese buyers. “There seems to be momentum for trade,” Calhoun says.

Namely, he sees that it is increasingly difficult to get new jet aircraft. Boeing’s Max model is sold out until 2027, and the waiting list for Airbus planes stretches almost into the beginning of the next decade.

Accordingly, as predicted by “Boeing” and also by experts, it means that the products of all aircraft manufacturers will be in great demand and carriers will compete with each other for the opportunity to buy them. This can also be seen in the share price of the last year, which has started to climb since the outbreak of the pandemic and the war started by Russia.