On February 26, 2021, Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has recertified the Boeing 737 MAX, allowing the aircraft type to once again fly within Australia’s airspace.
The aviation body evaluated the technical data received from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and said that they were “confident that the aircraft are safe”.
“Our airworthiness and engineering team has assessed there are no additional return to service requirements for operation in Australia,” CASA’s Acting CEO and Director of Aviation Safety, Graeme Crawford said.
However, before an aircraft can return to Australian skies, the 737 MAX operators will have to update the software onboard the aircraft, including an update to the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) as well as to conduct additional training for 737 MAX pilots.
While no Australian airlines currently operate the Boeing 737 MAX, two foreign airlines, namely SilkAir (now Singapore Airlines (SIA1) (SINGY)) and Fiji Airways, flew these aircraft to Australia prior to the 737 MAX worldwide grounding that followed two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in March 2019.
On November 18, 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States became the first authority to recertify the Boeing 737 MAX. The EASA, Transport Canada (TC), Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) have all since recertified the Boeing 737 MAX, allowing it to resume commercial service again.