Top China airlines seek damages over grounded 737 MAX

China's three biggest airlines have demanded compensation from Boeing over losses incurred by its grounded 737 MAX fleet as well as delayed deliveries of the aircraft, according to a media report on Wednesday.

Air China, China Southern and China Eastern have filed claims for payouts, reports the BBC.

China operates the largest fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and was the first country to take the jets out of service after the Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 crash on March 10 that killed all the 157 people on board.

The March crash came five months after 189 people were killed in a Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October 2018 that involved the same aircraft model.

The planemaker's entire global fleet of 737 MAX aircraft has been grounded since March and the firm is anxious to prove that it's safe to return to the skies.

The development has come ahead of the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) update on reviews of Boeing's software fix and new pilot training in Texas on Thursday.

The meeting will involve 57 agencies from 33 countries, including China, France, Germany and the UK, as well as the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

But it is unclear if the planes will be back in the air before the end of the critical summer travel season.

--IANS

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