Hong Kong greenlights B737 MAX flights

Dhaka: Nearly three years later, Hong Kong is allowing airlines to resume flight operations with Boeing 737 MAX in the city’s airspace.

The Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong issued a directive in this regard on January 21 lifting the ban on the narrow-body model.

By this time, almost all countries worldwide have recertified Boeing 737 MAX, following a safety scandal caused by two fatal accidents in 2018 and 2019.

The crash of flights JT610 and ET302 by Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, respectively, led to casualties of 346 people.

Following the second accident on March 10, 2019, civil aviation authorities globally banned the MAX from their airspaces.

Later, Boeing had to recertify the aircraft, fixing several design problems, particularly the MCAS system to get permission to fly the model again.

On December 9, Brazilian airline GOL was the first to resume flight service with the aircraft model, following the Federal Aviation Administration’s recertification. Nevertheless, several countries, particularly China, have remained working on a recertification process with Boeing.

Now as Hong Kong lifts the ban on the model, it has outlined several rules for airlines to fly the aircraft.

Airlines must comply with the airworthiness directive from the FAA or a similar directive from the country where the plane was registered, said Victor Liu, General Director of CAD.

Additionally, the airline must carry a valid certificate of airworthiness meeting the standards by the Civil Aviation Organisation.