SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 29 March 2024, Friday |

Flydubai expects its 14 Boeing 737 MAX jets back in service by June

United Arab Emirates’ flydubai expects to have all of its 14 Boeing 737 MAX  aircraft back in service by the first week of June, the airline’s head of maintenance said on Tuesday.

Resuming 737 MAX flights this Thursday with a service to Sialkot in Pakistan, the airline has cleared five of those jets to return to service after a two-year grounding.

“You can rest assured we have every confidence in this aircraft,” Head of Maintenance Andrew Glover told an online press briefing.

Regulators worldwide grounded the 737 in March 2019 after two fatal crashed in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed a total of 346 people onboard.

The UAE aviation regulator lifted the ban in February after the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) set out the return to service requirements.

Flydubai said 12 countries on its network had not approved the jet, including Russia and India, and that it would only operate flights to and over countries that had lifted the ban.

Initially, the aircraft would be used to fly to destinations close to its hub, like Pakistan, it said.

    Source:
  • alarabiya