Flydubai’s Boeing 737 Max aircraft to resume passenger services this week

Flydubai has announced that its Boeing 737 Max aircraft will return to passenger service from Thursday, April 8.

This follows the airline’s compliance with all of the requirements as required by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to ensure the safe return of the aircraft to service.

Flydubai, which has a fleet of 14 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, said four of its Max 8s and one of its Max 9s have now received regulatory approval to rejoin its fleet.

The remaining nine aircraft will return to passenger service over the coming months.

The first flight to be operated by the Max aircraft will be from Dubai International to Sialkot International Airport in Pakistan on April 8.

Following that, it will be deployed to other existing flydubai destinations over the coming weeks.

Passengers will be notified in advance of travel if their itinerary now includes a flight that is scheduled to be operated by a Max, a statement said.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO at flydubai, said: “The Max is integral to flydubai’s fleet and we are confident in the aircraft and its capabilities.”

Flydubai suspended the use of its Max jets in March 2019, when the model was grounded worldwide in the wake of a second deadly crash in five months.

The return to service of the airline’s fleet of Boeing 737 Max aircraft follows a 20-month review which has involved the manufacturer, regulators, engineers, scientists, researchers, mechanics and pilots whose sole objective has been to safely return the aircraft to service.

Flydubai said it has met all the requirements set out by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which included installing software enhancements, completing a wire separation modification, conducting pilot training and performing thorough aircraft reactivation activities.

The GCAA has granted the approval for each Max aircraft to return to service following the fulfillment of the following requirements:

* Software enhancements and additional protections to the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS)

* Other software updates not related to the flight control system

* A wire separation modification

* A thorough inspection to ensure the aircraft are free of debris

* Pilot training has been enhanced and includes both classroom and full motion simulator training

* Conducting operational readiness flights

Airlines in the US and Brazil began to restart commercial flights with the Max late last year, after regulators there cleared its return. In February, TUI AG became the first company in Europe to begin flying passenger services with the 737 Max.