A Boeing 737 Max in a trial flight prepares to land in Seattle city of Washington state, the US. — AFP/VNA Photo

The Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam (CAAV) said on Monday that it has sent a document to the Ministry of Transport asking for permission to conduct procedures to allow Boeing 737 Max aircraft to fly to/from Viet Nam’s territory, and to grant certificates for this type of aircraft to be imported into Viet Nam.

CAAV Director Dinh Viet Thang has worked with representatives of the aircraft manufacturer Boeing to update the operation status of Boeing 737 Max aircraft in the world and reported this to the ministry.

According to information updated by Boeing, 178 out of 195 aviation authorities in the world have lifted bans on Boeing 737 Max aircraft, including re-issuance of standard airworthiness certification, authorisation to fly to/from their territory and transit through their airspace for this aircraft.

After being allowed to operate again by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), more than 360 Boeing 737 Max aircraft of 35 airlines around the world have now been operating again.

As of September 15, after being allowed to resume operations, Boeing 737 Max planes have performed more than 150,000 flights with a total of over 370,000 safe flight hours. The average departure confidence index is 99.35 per cent.

In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines crash involving a Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet killed 157 people. In October 2018, a Lion Air 737 MAX 8 jet crashed in Indonesia, killing 189 people.

After that, Boeing 737 Max aircraft was banned from conducting flights all over the world.

In March 2019, CAAV decided to nullify the granted licences and not to grant new ones for flights using the Boeing 737 Max to operate in Viet Nam’s airspace. In April 2021, the Ministry of Transport agreed with the CAAV’s proposal to allow the Boeing 737 Max aircraft to transit through Viet Nam’s airspace. — VNS