China Southern Airlines is a massive airline company in China and the world, based in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. China Southern Airlines came into existence in 1988 when state-owned air firms restructured and started flying domestically in China. It needs to be noted that the airline is a state-owned entity operated by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
The airline has issued an update on the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, informing potentially involved stakeholders that it has canceled the sale of ten Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which was announced just a few months ago.
The cancellation was made just a few days after China had been enrolled in a tariff war with the United States, which prevented Chinese airlines from taking delivery of new aircraft produced by the US, specifically by Boeing.
The ten aircraft are B-2725, B-2726, B-2733, B-2737, B-2735, B-2787, B-2788, B-2732, B-2736, and B-2727. Boeing had delivered the ten GE Aerospace GEnx-powered 787s from 2013 to 2014. Besides China Southern Airlines, only two Chinese carriers have 787-8s in their fleets: Hainan Airlines, ten, which were delivered between 2013 and 31, and Xiamen Airlines, six, delivered between 2014 and 2015.
While the airline never publicly explained why it terminated the sale program of the ten Dreamliners, in November, it issued a request for proposals (RFP) without making any additional information about the reasons available. The aircraft were to be sold with their GEnx engines, along with two spare engines.
