China United Airlines (KN, Beijing Daxing International) took delivery of two B737-800s in late December 2019, resuming fleet growth after a year-long break caused by the lack of capacity of the carrier's former base at Beijing Nanyuan airport.
B-209H (msn 63083) and B-209Z (msn 63085) were ferried from Seattle Boeing Field via Honolulu and Guam International to Beijing Daxing International over the course of December 20-23, 2019, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. The two Boeing narrowbodies flew their first test flights on January 23 and March 6, respectively. Usually, B737s are delivered within few weeks of their first flight.
The last previous B737 delivered to China United Airlines, B-207Z (msn 63077), was delivered in December 2018.
The carrier had to halt its growth due to the lack of space at Nanyuan airport. The oldest aerodrome in Beijing was closed on September 25, 2019, following the opening of Daxing airport, to which China United Airlines fully relocated.
China United Airlines, a low-cost carrier subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao), currently operates eight B737-700s and forty-three -800s. It has a further three B737-800s in storage at Boeing Field since January, February, and April 2019, respectively.
