What the 737 Max ban means for those flying in and out of the Emirates AVIATION

Flydubai is the only UAE airline directly affected by the 737 Max ban, grounding its fleet of 13 of the narrow-body aircraft.

The grounding of its Max fleet has resulted in cancellations, with up to 15 flights per day set to be scrapped over the next few days. A spokesperson for flydubai said the airline would be contacting all affected passengers.

“Flydubai is adjusting its schedule to minimise disruption to passengers and will operate flights with its fleet of Next Generation Boeing 737800 aircraft,” the low-cost airline said in a statement.

Both jets are part of the Boeing 737 Next Generation fleet. However, the Max has a different software system than the 737-800 NG, which is now coming under scrutiny in the ongoing investigation.

The older 737-800 NG is also equipped with technology that allows pilots to manually control the plane by pulling back on the control column – a function that was disabled when the new Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System operating system was introduced on the Max 8.

Passengers flying with flydubai to various destinations are likely to be affected, but those travelling to Kuwait, Lebanon, Moscow and Prague are among the routes most likely to face immediate disruption as they are currently serviced by at least one daily flydubai 737 Max service.

There have been cancellations on flydubai flights to Kuwait, Amman, Bahrain, Baghdad, Basra, Beirut, Muscat, Prague, Riyadh and Moscow.

With at least 40 countries grounding or banning the aircraft, including Oman, the UK, South Africa, India, Australia, France, Indonesia and Singapore, passengers travelling to these destinations may also face delays or disruptions.

The Ethiopian Airlines incident has divided passenger opinion. For Mary Keenan, a New Zealand expatriate and former flight attendant in Dubai, the impact will not alter her travel plans until a conclusion into what caused the crash has been reached.

“Boeing aircraft are known to be among the safest in the world and, at this point in time, there is no evidence to prove that the crashes occurred because of the same fault or error,” said Ms Keenan.

However, Rob Arrow, a frequent flyer, travel writer and hotel consultant, has a different opinion.

“As a frequent flyer, I tend to take for granted the safety of aircraft equipment these days and don’t usually consider whether I’m on an A330 or a B787.

“I usually consider the airline itself, however with this incident being specific to an actual model, I would currently not fly on one and reroute or amend my schedule to take a different type of aircraft, he said.

“Coincidence does occur, but with the similarities [between the Ethiopian crash and the Lion Air crash in October] it has unnerved me and put me off flying on a B737 Max until the airworthiness of the model is clarified.”

Coincidence does occur, but similarities between the Ethiopian crash and the Lion Air one has unnerved me ROB ARROW Travel writer