Boeing flights 737 Max planes back to US as trade tensions with China rise

Boeing Co. has started flying undelivered 737 Max aircraft—initially intended for Chinese airlines—back to the United States, as trade tensions between Washington and Beijing escalate once again.

According to flight tracking data from FlightRadar24, cited by Bloomberg News, one such aircraft, originally designated for Xiamen Airlines, recently departed from Boeing’s completion centre in Zhoushan, China, and flew to Guam, marking the first leg of its return across the Pacific. That same jet had previously flown from Seattle to Zhoushan via Hawaii and Guam last month.

Photos from plane-spotting websites in February confirmed the aircraft bore Xiamen Airlines livery. Xiamen, a subsidiary of China Southern, did not respond to requests for comment on the aircraft’s status.

At least two other Boeing 737 Max planes remain at the Zhoushan facility awaiting delivery, according to aviation tracker Aviation Flights Group. The facility—Boeing’s flagship completion and delivery center outside Shanghai—has now been drawn into a broader disruption caused by a breakdown in the long-standing duty-free status of aircraft deliveries between the two economic giants.

The developments follow a report from Bloomberg News earlier this week stating that Chinese authorities had instructed domestic airlines to halt acceptance of Boeing aircraft, though no formal announcement has been made by Beijing or reported in Chinese state media.

Reuters separately reported that at least one of the undelivered jets was in the process of returning to the US on April 18. The repatriated jet is now making its 5,000-mile journey back to Boeing’s main production site, as tensions continue to rise over US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

Aviation industry insiders told Reuters they had not received formal guidance on a delivery ban. However, many experts agree that China’s imposition of retaliatory tariffs on US goods would, in practice, halt aircraft imports, even without an explicit prohibition.

“There are ongoing internal discussions within Boeing and among suppliers, assuming that aircraft deliveries to China may not resume in the short term,” said one senior industry source.

According to The Air Current, which first reported on Boeing’s decision to repatriate some of the jets, one unnamed Chinese airline has already walked away from a lease agreement for a Boeing aircraft. In some internal discussions, Boeing reportedly considered placing the jets in bonded storage within China to avoid them being officially imported—and thus tariffed—but has now opted to remove at least one aircraft from the country altogether.

This new delivery disruption comes just as Boeing had been slowly recovering from a nearly five-year freeze on 737 Max imports to China, caused both by safety concerns and an earlier round of US-China trade tensions.

By Tamilla Hasanova