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The airline will resume services with the aircraft beginning with a flight to Sialkot in Pakistan on Thursday.
Budget carrier flydubai expects to have all 14 of its Boeing 737 Max aircraft back in operation by June 2021, 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,” said Andrew Glover, Head of Maintenance at Flydubai.
Boeing’s 737 was grounded in March 2019 after two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed a total of 346 people onboard.
The UAE aviation regulator lifted the ban in February after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US 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.
Captain Patrick Gonzenbach, senior vice president for flight operations at flydubai, said 233 pilots had completed the additional training and were ready to resume 737 Max flights.
Its remaining 522 pilots are expected to receive the additional training by the end of the year, he said.
Flydubai has ordered a total of 251 737 Max jets, including the 14 already delivered.
Staff Reporter
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