More than three years since the Lion Air accident, which resulted in the deaths of all 189 people on board, Indonesia has removed its ban on the Boeing 737 Max, which was involved in the crash.
After a catastrophic incident involving an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max in March 2019, the American plane maker's best-selling aircraft was grounded worldwide.
Ethiopian Airlines announced on Monday that such flights will restart in February.
The news comes months after the planes were reintroduced to service in the United States and Europe.
The 737 Max is now legal in more than 180 countries, with Australia, Japan, India, Malaysia, and Singapore lifting their prohibitions this year.
The removal of the prohibition will take effect immediately, according to Indonesia's transport ministry, and will be the result of authorities' reviews of adjustments made to the aircraft's systems.
Airlines must follow airworthiness guidelines and examine their planes before flying the 737 Max again, according to the ministry, which added that government authorities will assess the jets as well.
Lion Air, which operated ten similar planes before the ban, has no comment on the matter.
Garuda, Indonesia's national carrier, said it had no intentions to reinstate the jet to its fleet because it is concentrating on debt restructuring.
As part of its turnaround strategy, the state-controlled company, which had only one 737 Max prior to it being grounded, has stated that it plans to reduce its fleet of aircraft from 142 to 66.
All of the 189 passengers and crew members on board were killed when Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea after just 13 minutes of having taken off from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
and after less than six months of that crash, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which was also a Boeing 737 Max plane, crashed after just ix minutes of leaving Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa and was slated to go to Kenya. That accident resulted in the death of all 157 people who were on board at that time.
"We have taken enough time to monitor the design modification work and the more than 20 months of rigorous rectification process... our pilots, engineers, aircraft technicians, cabin crew are confident on the safety of the fleet," Ethiopian Airlines' chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam said in a statement about resuming 737 Max flights.
(Source:www.independent.co.uk)
After a catastrophic incident involving an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max in March 2019, the American plane maker's best-selling aircraft was grounded worldwide.
Ethiopian Airlines announced on Monday that such flights will restart in February.
The news comes months after the planes were reintroduced to service in the United States and Europe.
The 737 Max is now legal in more than 180 countries, with Australia, Japan, India, Malaysia, and Singapore lifting their prohibitions this year.
The removal of the prohibition will take effect immediately, according to Indonesia's transport ministry, and will be the result of authorities' reviews of adjustments made to the aircraft's systems.
Airlines must follow airworthiness guidelines and examine their planes before flying the 737 Max again, according to the ministry, which added that government authorities will assess the jets as well.
Lion Air, which operated ten similar planes before the ban, has no comment on the matter.
Garuda, Indonesia's national carrier, said it had no intentions to reinstate the jet to its fleet because it is concentrating on debt restructuring.
As part of its turnaround strategy, the state-controlled company, which had only one 737 Max prior to it being grounded, has stated that it plans to reduce its fleet of aircraft from 142 to 66.
All of the 189 passengers and crew members on board were killed when Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea after just 13 minutes of having taken off from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
and after less than six months of that crash, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which was also a Boeing 737 Max plane, crashed after just ix minutes of leaving Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa and was slated to go to Kenya. That accident resulted in the death of all 157 people who were on board at that time.
"We have taken enough time to monitor the design modification work and the more than 20 months of rigorous rectification process... our pilots, engineers, aircraft technicians, cabin crew are confident on the safety of the fleet," Ethiopian Airlines' chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam said in a statement about resuming 737 Max flights.
(Source:www.independent.co.uk)
