Flydubai prepares for 737 MAX jet to rejoin its fleet

DUBAI: Following the announcement by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) outlining the return to service criteria for the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, flydubai will start the process of preparing the aircraft for passenger service.

This 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.

Commenting on the return to service, Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai, said, “The Boeing 737 MAX is an integral part of flydubai’s fleet and I have full confidence in the aircraft as it returns to passenger service. Safety is the founding principle of our business. We said that we would only return the aircraft to service when it was safe to do so and that time is now.” “The GCAA has played a key role alongside other regulators during the 20-month review of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. We would like to thank the GCAA for their diligent and exhaustive work. The GCAA has outlined a clear and exacting framework of enhancements and modifications to the aircraft that must be met before returning the aircraft to passenger service along with additional and mandatory pilot training.” He added that flydubai will comply with each of the requirements before the aircraft rejoins the fleet.

The conclusion and subsequent actions of the review have culminated in the approval to return the aircraft to service by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and other regulators from around the world.

The aircraft returns to service having undergone one of the most demanding safety reviews in history. This has resulted in the successful return to service already observed by operators in the North, Central and South Americas, and Europe.

Every flydubai pilot will undergo additional classroom and full motion simulator training before they are permited to fly the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. This training programme exceeds the regulatory requirements. The routes on the flydubai network where the aircraft will operate will be announced at a later date.

On Wednesday, the Director-general of GCAA, Saif Al Suwaidi, said that ban on Boeing 737 MAX was lifted and a safety decision was issued for the aircraft to operate again.

Al Suwaidi added that lifting of the ban on the aircraft was a result of the “intensive efforts made by the technical commitee at the authority through evaluating all the technical requirement.”

“It resulted in the commitee determining that those technical requirements should be met by the companies to ensure the return of the aircraft to the skies again,” he explained.