By Sam Boughedda
Boeing (NYSE:BA) shares gained Wednesday after it was reported that the China Southern Airlines (SS:600029) mobile app showed it has scheduled two Boeing 737 MAX flights for Friday.
If the flights go ahead, they will be the first commercial services for the 737 MAX by a Chinese airline since their grounding in March 2019. The jets were declared safe to fly in October by the Chinese Civil Aviation Authority.
Boeing shares are up more than 1% at the time of writing.
The app shows that the flights scheduled are domestic, from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou to Zhengzhou and then from Guangzhou to Wuhan.
However, back in October, China Southern had scheduled flights with the 737 MAX before unexpectedly canceling on the day of departure.
In March 2019, the 737 MAX was grounded after fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. However, it has since recently returned to service around the world other than in China and Russia. Even so, foreign airlines have been operating the planes in China since October 2022.