BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The three biggest airlines in China have all formally requested compensation from the Boeing Company over the long-period grounding of the 737 Max aircraft as of Wednesday.
Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines have also sought payouts due to delayed delivery of previously ordered new aircrafts from the America-based manufacturer of commercial jetliners.
The grounding of Boeing 737 Max 8 planes has resulted in great losses for the company, and the losses are still expanding, the China Eastern Airlines noted.
The Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines said it had suspended commercial flights of 24 737 Max aircraft since March 11 and requested a negotiation with Boeing over the compensation plan as soon as possible.
China's carriers own a total of 96 737 Max 8 planes, with 14 belonging to the China Eastern Airlines and 15 to Air China, data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) showed.
Last month, China was invited by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to review the safety of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft.
"To resume operation of 737 Max 8 jetliners, we have to ensure the absolute saftey of the planes," said Xu Chaoqun, an official with the CAAC.
China was the first to halt the commercial operations of all Boeing 737 Max 8 airplanes after two fatal crashes.
On March 10, a 737 Max jetliner of Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board, including 8 Chinese.
It was the second crash of the new aircraft after one operated by Indonesia's Lion Air crashed in October last year, triggering global scrutiny and bans on operating Boeing 737 Max aircraft.
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