Boeing's modified 737 Max airliner is safe to return to service in Europe, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said, lifting a 22-month flight ban after two crashes of the jet which caused 346 deaths.
Patrick Ky, EASA executive director, said it had "every confidence" that the aircraft was safe following an independent European review of changes ranging from cockpit software to maintenance checks and pilot training.
“Let me be quite clear that this journey does not end here,” Mr Ky said in a statement. “We have every confidence that the aircraft is safe, which is the precondition for giving our approval. But we will continue to monitor 737 Max operations closely as the aircraft resumes service.”
Regulators around the world grounded the Max in March 2019, after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet five months after one flown by Indonesia's Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea. A total of 346 passengers and crew members were killed in the two crashes.
The United States lifted its ban in November, followed by Brazil and Canada. China, which was first to ban the aircraft after the second crash, and which represents a quarter of Max sales, has not said when it will act. Relatives of some crash victims have strongly criticised the move.
EASA represents 31 mainly EU nations, excluding Britain which formally left the bloc this month. Britain is expected to issue its own separate approval.
Ryanair has ordered more than 200 of the craft.
Record loss
Separately, Boeing posted a record $12 billion annual loss on Wednesday as it delayed its new 777X jet again and booked a $6.5 billion (€5.36 billion) charge for the programme.
The coronavirus crisis has exacerbated a drop in demand for the industry’s largest jetliners, with airline customers shunning deliveries of aircraft due to international travel restrictions, hurting cash flow at the US plane maker.
Boeing said it expects the 777X, a larger version of the 777 mini-jumbo, to enter service by late 2023, delaying the jet’s launch for the third time and booking a $6.5 billion pretax charge.
The company has been developing the wide-body jet with the goal of releasing it in 2022, already two years later than planned.
A historic slump in air travel has also hurt shipments of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners to airlines, causing the aircraft to pile up in dozens, further weighing on the company which already has a stored inventory of about 450,737 Max jets.
Boeing said it expects to resume the shipments of its wide-body 787 Dreamliners in 2021 as air travel recovers.
Deliveries of the 787s slumped nearly 70 per cent to 53 aircraft in 2020 and are not expected to recover to 2019 levels until at least 2024, according to analysts.
Boeing also said it delivered an additional 13,737 Max aircraft from its stored inventory in January so far, adding to the 27 aircraft it shipped in December after the US cleared the jet to fly again following a 20-month ban.
The company’s net loss rose to $8.44 billion in the fourth quarter which ended December 31st, from $1.01 billion a year earlier, taking its full-year loss to a record $11.94 billion.
Revenue fell 15 per cent to $15.30 billion in the quarter. – Reuters