China Southern has cancelled the scheduled Boeing 737 MAX flights, on the day of the departure, rising several speculations about the 737 MAX’s return to service in China.
A few days back news of three of China Southern's aircraft unsealed and cleaned, with mechanics and engineers working on the aircraft were making rounds in the market. This news was later confirmed as the airline scheduled the aircraft type for service. However, the sudden cancellation of the flights raised eyebrows in aviation circles.
The first flight was scheduled to depart from Guangzhou's Baiyun International Airport for the first time in three years for a round trip from Zhengzhou's Xinzheng International Airport on October 30, 2022. The second flight was also scheduled on the same day for a round trip between Guangzhou and Wuhan's Tianhe International Airport.
Interestingly the MAX flights were not replaced by any other aircraft type, the flights were simply not operated. There was no plausible explanation given on the China Southern website for the flight cancellations. However, experts believe that with home-manufactured C919 to commence deliveries in December 2022, it is only logical to scrape the 737MAX operations altogether.
China Southern is the largest Boeing 737 MAX operator in China, with Air China having only 16 while China Eastern Airlines has only three, 737 MAX aircraft.