With its delivery postponed several times, China Southern Airlines Company Limited's Boeing 787 aircraft currently have been stored because the aircraft hasn't received its airworthiness certificate from Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), reported by Yangcheng Evening News.

Both Boeing Co. and China Southern refused to disclose the reason of the delays. "The delivery schedule of Boeing 787 aircraft has been carrying forward according to the normal procedure, and the exact delivery date should be negotiated and determined between Boeing and the airline concerned", said Xu Yanmei, Boeing China communications services manager.

It is learnt that China Southern has ordered ten Boeing 787 aircraft in total. A source familiar with the matter said Boeing has started the assembly of the carrier's fourth Dreamliner this week, while the first three, which have finished the assembly and painting, have to be stored at present, as it is unable to get its airworthiness certificate from CAAC for the time being. It has already been one year since Boeing said it would deliver China Southern' first Boeing 787 by the end of 2011.

Originally, China Southern was scheduled to receive its first Boeing 787 aircraft in 2008, while Hainan Airlines planned to take the delivery of 5 Boeing 787 aircraft in 2012. However, the delivery was delayed again and again due to a number of reasons, such as production delay and design process etc. in Boeing.

On Nov. 28, an industry insider said, an important reason for Being 787's delivery delay to China is that the aircraft hasn't obtained its airworthiness certificate from CAAC. Besides, earlier at Zhuhai Airshow held from Nov. 13-18, an official from Boeing also revealed that it still needs some time for Boeing 787 to get its airworthiness certificate from CAAC.

China Southern said they haven't got an exact delivery schedule of its Boeing 787 aircraft yet, while Hainan Airlines disclosed their first Dreamliner may be delivered in the second quarter of 2013.

Due to the lengthy delivery delays, Xiamen Airlines has scrapped the Boeing 787 aircraft order and ordered smaller 737 instead, while in 2011, China Eastern Airlines switched orders of 24 787 Dreamliners for 45 737-88 aircraft.