China’s Hainan Airlines has resumed passenger services with its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in China, almost four years after the aircraft type was grounded.
The Chinses carrier’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, registered B-207H, took off for its first scheduled domestic passenger flight, HU7089, on February 1, 2022. According to flight history found on Flightradar24.com, the aircraft departed from Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK) in Hainan Province at around 1.25 a.m. (UTC) and touched down at Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG) in Yunnan Province after almost two hours of flight.
The plane was ferried to HAK airport from Qionghai Bo’ao Airport (BAR) in Hainan the previous day, the flight history showed.
Hainan Airlines became the second carrier in China to resume passenger services with the MAX jet since the model was ungrounded in the country in January 2023.
The first to do so was the country’s largest carrier China Southern Airlines, which resumed MAX operations by reactivating its two aircraft of the type on January 13, 2023.
In March 2019, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) became the first to ground the 737 MAX following the second fatal crash of the narrowbody jet within six months. In total the accidents, which took place in Indonesia and Ethiopia, claimed the lives of 346 people.
According to the Planespotters.net registry, Hainan Airlines currently has 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in its fleet. As of February 1, 2023, 10 planes were marked as parked.