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Icelandair expects to restart Boeing 737 MAX flights from next week

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Since being recertified as airworthy by both the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), many airlines across the world have safely returned the Boeing 737 MAX back to revenue service. Most carriers in North and South America have already been able to resume passenger services using the aircraft type since the FAA approved the aircraft type at the end of last year. By the end of 2020, United Airlines, Aeromexico, Gol Linhas Aéreas and American Airlines had all resumed commercial operations using the 737 MAX.

At the start of the year, EASA has published its final airworthiness directive for the aircraft type and since then a number of European carriers have begun the process of reentering the aircraft back into commercial service. On February 17th, TUI Airlines Belgium became the first carrier to resume commercial operations using the Boeing 737 MAX, with a flight from Brussels (BRU) to Malaga Airport (AGP). Since then only one European carrier has brought the 737 MAX back into commercial service and that was Czech carrier, Smartwings.

Now the flag carrier of Iceland, Icelandair has stated that it expects its Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft to return to commercial services next week, March 8th. According to the carrier’s website, the flight is due to depart from Keflavík International Airport (KEF) in Iceland at 7:45 am (GMT) and will land at Copenhagen Airport (CPH) in Denmark at 11:55 am local time.

Since the aircraft was grounded in 2019, all six of the carrier’s Boeing 737 MAX aircraft have been in storage in Spain. Now that the Boeing 737 MAX has been recertified for commercial operations, Icelandair stated that it will follow “every directive to make the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft ready.” As part of returning any Boeing 737 MAX for commercial operations, pilots are required to undergo extensive training in a simulator and the Icelandic carrier is also one of the few European airlines to “own a Boeing 737 MAX Flight Simulator.” The carrier is also offering passengers flexibility policies and will only be temporarily available to passengers on all flights on the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

As Icelandair joins TUI and Smartwings as commercial operators of the recertified Boeing 737 MAX in Europe, there are still a number of European carriers, such as LOT Polish Airlines, Norwegian Air and Turkish Airlines, which have yet to state a date for when they expect to bring the aircraft type back into commercial service. All eyes are now firmly on which European carrier will be the next to resume commercial operations with the Boeing 737 MAX.

The post Icelandair expects to restart Boeing 737 MAX flights from next week appeared first on AeroNewsX.

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