BOEING Co. handed over a 737 Max aircraft to a Chinese airline for the first time since U.S. planemaker’s most profitable product was grounded in early 2019.

A China Southern Airlines Co. (Southern Air) Max took off from Boeing Field in Seattle on Wednesday at 11:55 a.m. local time bound for Honolulu, according to tracking service FlightRadar24. The flight is the first of several legs across the Pacific.

Chinese imports of the Max have been suspended since it was grounded worldwide in 2019 following two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. Safety bans have been lifted with existing Max already flying inside China, but new deliveries had remained on hold.

For Boeing, the delivery symbolizes the re-opening of doors to China, one of the fastest-growing aerospace markets, which Boeing projects will compose 20% of the world’s aircraft demand through 2042.

The Max handover hands Boeing some much-needed good news as it struggles to recover from a crisis that erupted Jan. 5, when a fuselage section blew off in midair from a 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines.

U.S. regulators have grounded 171 of the variant, and customers from United Airlines Holdings Inc. to Alaska Air Group Inc. and Ryanair Holdings Plc have criticized Boeing’s recent string of quality lapses.

China Southern is taking delivery of a Max 8, by far the top-selling member of the 737 family. Resuming exports to China should provide a boost to Boeing’s cash, while helping the company whittle down its stockpile of hundreds of already built aircraft lingering from a global grounding nearly five years ago and the COVID-19 pandemic that followed.

The U.S. planemaker holds around 75 of the workhorse jets earmarked for China, executives have said. (SD-Agencies)