(Yicai) Nov 25 -- China Southern Airlines will sell all of its remaining Boeing 787-8 jets, a widely popular model in Boeing’s wide-body aircraft line, due to the slow recovery of long-haul routes following the Covid-19 pandemic.

China Southern, the first airline in China to introduce the Boeing 787-8, will sell 10 of these aircraft to a qualified buyer, the Guangzhou-based carrier recently announced on its website. It did not disclose the buyer's identity.

Other major Chinese carriers, such as Air China and China Eastern Airlines, are focusing on the introduction of narrow-body aircraft this year while accelerating the retirement of older wide-body planes due to an oversupply of large aircraft amid the sluggish recovery of international routes, particularly those to Europe and North America. Flights from China to North America have only recovered to less than 30 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

China Southern received its first Boeing 787-8 in May 2013 and took delivery of the last one earlier this year. Prior to this, the airline began decommissioning Airbus A380s, a larger wide-body model that seats over 500 passengers.

As of June 30, China Southern's fleet included 907 aircraft, with 23 new additions, most of which were narrow-body models, according to its interim report. Meanwhile, several wide-body planes were retired. The airline's annual report for last year projected a net increase of 40 aircraft this year.

Since last year, customers in regions like the Middle East, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea—though not China—have driven a significant surge in new orders for wide-body aircraft, Xu Gang, chief executive of Airbus China, revealed to Yicai during the recent China International Import Expo.

Yicai learned from insiders that the current consensus in the aviation industry is to limit supply growth as there is an oversupply of wide-body jets that are considered uneconomical for domestic flights.

Editor: Emmi Laine