SINGAPORE — Singapore's aviation regulator announced on Monday that it would clear Boeing 737 MAX jets to return to service, more than two years after the plane was grounded.
The approval is based on operators' complying with airworthiness directives and additional flight crew training requirements, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said in a statement.
Singapore grounded the 737 MAX in March 2019 following two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The approval for its return comes months after the aircraft returned to service in the United States and Europe, and follows the more recent lifting of grounding orders in other countries, including Australia, Fiji, Japan, India, and Malaysia.
China is the biggest market in the region that has yet to approve the return of the 737 MAX, though Boeing last month conducted test flights in the country.
Singapore Airlines has six of the planes and it plans to take delivery of another eight by the financial year ending, March 31, 2022.
Singapore Airlines said on Monday it would continue to work closely with CAAS and other relevant regulators in the coming weeks to meet the requirements to return its 737 MAX planes to service. Further details on its 737 MAX operations will be announced at a later date, the airline added.
Via Reuters
