A Boeing 737 Max jet Photo: IC

Boeing hopes that the Boeing 737 MAX will return to services in China before the end of this year, but the ultimate decision is in the hands of the regulator, a senior executive from Boeing said at a press conference on Thursday.

Boeing staff are actively working with Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), to assist the regulator in ensuring a safe return to service of the 737 MAX in China, Richard Wynne, the managing director of China marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes said.

But he emphasized that the timeline will be decided by CAAC.

China has grounded 737 MAX services for years, the first country in the world to do so following two tragic crashes in 2018 and 2019.

A total of 97 Boeing 737 MAX planes were grounded by 13 Chinese airlines, aviation news portal carnoc.com reported.

China's civil aviation authorities have maintained that for the 737 MAX to resume commercial services, aircraft modifications must be approved for airworthiness, and pilots must be fully retrained to fly the model, also requiring that the findings of investigations into the two fatal accidents must be made available and the defects which caused the incidents must be addressed, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a press conference in mid-June.

Reuters reported on August 4 that a Boeing Co 737 Max jet departed for China to conduct a flight test as part of its attempt to gain approval in the vital travel market following two fatal crashes.

Flight-tracking site FlightRadar24 showed a 737 MAX 7 test plane taking off from Boeing Field near Seattle at 8:17 a.m. local time. It landed in John Rodgers Field outside Honolulu nearly 5.5 hours later to complete the first leg of its trip across the Pacific.

Global Times