Ethiopian Airlines is set to resume operations with Boeing 737 Max 8 jets in February 2022, nearly three years after the crash of one of its jets prompted the global grounding of the type.
According to Flightglobal the Addis Ababa-based carrier said it is in the “final stage” of returning the type to service, with the first flight “expected on February 1”.
”Safety is our topmost priority at Ethiopian Airlines and it guides every decision we make and all actions we take,” says Ethiopian Airlines chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam.
“It is in line with this guiding principle that we are now returning the Boeing 737 Max to service.”
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Flightglobal says the airline has four Max 8s in storage and 25 on order.
GebreMariam cites the type’s recertification by regulatory bodies around the world and its return to service with “more than 34 airlines”, which have completed “more than 275,000 commercial flights” with the Max over the past year.
The crash of Ethiopian flight 302 on 10 March 2019 killed 157 people and came several months after the crash of a Lion Air Max 8 in October 2018.
