GCAA unable to give Boeing 737 MAX “unbanning date”

The United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said on May 9, 2019, that it was unable to give a date for the resumption of Boeing 737 MAX operations as it did not possess enough information to ensure passengers safety yet.

“GCAA is actively and closely working with the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, and the other authorities around the world for developments on B737-8 Max,” said the authority in a statement to local news agency WAM. “The GCAA team recently participated in Joint Authorities Technical Review team meetings which has been formed to look into Flight Control System of B737-8 Max.”

“The GCAA is still in the process of seeking more technical information from the FAA on the improvements being proposed. Therefore, GCAA won’t be able to give a date of unbanning until it has enough information to ensure passengers safety is protected,” the statement concluded.

The ban in the UAE airspace dates back to March 12, 2019. It affected one airline in the country, Flydubai, which operates eleven Boeing 737 MAX 8 and two Boeing MAX 9. The global grounding comes after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 in Addis Ababa shortly after takeoff on March 10, 2019, killing 157 people. The other crash involving the same plane model happened on October 29, 2018, when a Lion Air flight with 189 people crashed into the sea, 13 minutes into its flight.