Ethiopian's Max to return in February

Ethiopian Airlines plans to be back in the air with the Boeing 737 Max on February 1 just short of three years since the fatal accident that led to the global grounding of the type.

An Ethiopian 737 Max on take-off 2019

Ethiopian Max takes off in 2019 - will be back in February (Image Wikipedia)

“Safety is our top-most priority at Ethiopian Airlines and it guides every decision we make and all actions we take", said CEO Tewolde GebreMariam. The airline had said it “would be the last to return” to operations and demanded a competely clean bill of health for the aircraft.

“It is in line with this guiding principle that we are now returning the 737 Max to service not only after the recertification by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), EASA of Europe, Transport Canada, CAAC, ECAA and other regulatory bodies but also after the return to service by more than 34 airlines around the world."

"The airplane model has accumulated more than 275,000 commercial flights since the resumption of 737 Max operation a year ago," adds GebreMariam.

Ethiopian will release further details on its plans for its four 737 Max aircraft later this month. It currently has 25 more on order and according to Cirium has purchase options for a further five.

Alan Peaford

Alan Peaford MBE

Alan is a regular broadcaster and is the consultant editor-in-chief and presenter for Times Aerospace TV and is a regular commentator on aviation issues for many global broadcasting channels. He is conference chairman of the Aviation Africa summit and the Aviation MENA summit and has moderated or chaired conferences for organisations such as IATA, DCAA, the Global Aerospace Summit and business aviation associations in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

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