China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou) hopes to restart the deliveries of B737-8s in 2022 and estimates that it would be able to take 39 units by the end of this year.
According to its 2021 financial report, the carrier plans to take a further 103 B737 MAX through the end of 2024 for a total of 142 aircraft over the next three years.
Last year, China Southern Airlines planned to take forty-eight B737 MAX in 2022. While the adjusted plan marks a slight downward revision of this number, it is still optimistic as China remains the last major jurisdiction that has yet to clear the type to return to service. While the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued guidelines for the necessary upgrades of the type in December 2021 permitting subsequent test flights by Chinese airlines, it still has not authorised B737 MAX commercial operations.
China Southern Airlines took deliveries of twenty-four B737-8s prior to the type's grounding in March 2019, making it the largest operator of the type in China (ahead of Air China with 16 grounded jets) and the seventh-largest in the world. It has a further 34 on direct order from Boeing, although Chinese state-owned companies rarely disclose their individual order books and usually participate in bulk orders placed by the government through lessors such as China Aviation Supplies Holding Company or are not disclosed as customers in the manufacturer's reports.
