Hong Kong, May 31 -- Boeing's 737 MAX has yet to become a large component of the region's airline fleet, although Asia-Pacific airlines and China-funded lessors have ordered hundreds of the type.
Across the region, lessors generally viewed the grounding of the MAX as a welcome respite from the pressures of placing aircraft in a period of over-capacity in the industry. An "enforced delay may not be a bad thing", a source told Nikkei Asian Review.
With so much uncertainty surrounding the date the MAX will re-enter service, lessors are revising their strategies to accommodate delivery delays of the MAX beyond the stated date of next September.
Approximately 350 MAXs were flying in the region when the type was grounded worldwide on March 13....