MAX rejoins Flydubai’s fleet
The first five of Flydubai’s 14 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft have completed their operational readiness flights and have been approved by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to return to service. They join other MAX aircraft that returned to service in the fleets of operators in Europe, the UK, North and South America.
On Thursday, Flydubai operated its first flight with its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from Dubai International (DXB) to Sialkot International Airport (SKT).
The flight FZ 327 departed at 6.30am and landed at 10.12am. The four additional Boeing 737 MAX aircraft will operate flights to Karachi, Multan and Tehran during the course of the day.
Ghaith al Ghaith, chief executive officer of Flydubai, said,
“With the return to service for the Boeing 737 MAX this marks the end of 22 months of diligent work undertaken by the global community of regulators and the uncompromising efforts of the Flydubai team in preserving and returning the aircraft to passenger service. Now is the time for our MAX aircraft to fly once again.”
The remaining nine MAX aircraft will continue to join the fleet with one aircraft scheduled to rejoin the fleet every 10 days.
The aircraft will supplement and support the existing flight schedule serving Flydubai’s network of 76 destinations.
Hamad Obaidalla, chief commercial officer of Flydubai, said, “The primary objective for everyone involved has been to safely return the aircraft to passenger service and we were pleased to see our passengers once again enjoy the exceptional product on our MAX fleet. They offer unrivalled comfort on a narrow-body aircraft in both our Business and Economy cabins.”
In addition to the enhancements and modifications to the aircraft and its systems, the GCAA has mandated additional pilot training as part of the stringent requirements for the aircraft’s return to service.
233 of Flydubai’s pilots have now completed the additional classroom and simulator training and are now ready to fly the MAX aircraft.
The training programme continues as every one of Flydubai’s pilots will receive this regulatorapproved MAX aircraft training.