Boeing 737 MAX Cleared To Fly In China Again

Chinese authorities have approved the Boeing 737 MAX to resume service after making a series of safety adjustments, removing a major uncertainty surrounding the American aviation giant's comeback after a lengthy slump.

A directive from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) deeming the model "airworthy" sets the stage for the jet to return to airline schedules in the country next year, following months of negotiations between Beijing and Boeing.

Shares of Boeing rocketed after the decision, which also clears the way for it to deliver more than 100 MAX aircraft to Chinese carriers that were produced during the more than two years the plane was grounded in China following two deadly crashes.

The CAAC said in a further statement on Friday that it expects "commercial operation of the existing domestic fleet will be resumed progressively at the end of this year or early next year."

News of the decision had initially emerged on Thursday, when AFP saw a government directive showing China was giving the green light to the 737 MAX after taking "corrective actions."

The CAAC statement on Friday confirmed the decision.

The CAAC's move also confirms a place for the US plane maker in the country – an essential growth market in aviation – despite persistent trade and political tensions between Washington and Beijing.

"This will give Boeing the assurance to begin to ramp plane production back up," said Michel Merluzeau, an analyst at AIR consultancy, adding that the action amounts to the "light at the end of the tunnel" for the MAX.

China is the last major travel market to bring the MAX back into use after it was grounded globally in March 2019 following two crashes that together claimed 346 lives.

Investigators said a main cause of both tragedies was a faulty flight handling system known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System.

Boeing won approval from the United States in November 2020 and from most other leading aviation authorities soon after to resume service.

But the process was far more protracted in China, with the CAAC only conducting a test flight of the model in the third quarter of this year. (AFP)