China maintains flight ban with Boeing 737 MAX

China’s aviation regulator will not yet allow Boeing’s troubled 737 MAX jet to fly into the company’s largest market due to lingering safety concerns, despite the United States lifting the ban on commercial flights.

Boeing’s best-selling jet was grounded around the world early last year after two accidents that killed 346 passengers.

Since then, it has faced long testing and approval process with aviation regulators around the world.

But the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Friday there was “no set timetable” for the resumption of flights, according to state broadcaster CCTV, dealing a blow to the aircraft manufacturing giant.

China was the first to suspend the plane’s flights.

The regulator added that the results of the investigations into the fatal accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia “must be clear” and that improvements in aircraft design must be “effective” and “receive approval”.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approved the plane’s commercial flight operations on Wednesday.

It is believed that shock are related to a defective anti-lock system called MCAS, according to the results of probes accidents.

Feng Zhenglin, director of the CAAC, said in October that China’s rapid grounding of the aircraft was based on a “zero tolerance” for potential safety hazards.

Boeing said last week that it expects China to buy more than 8,600 new planes worth $ 1.4 trillion in the next two decades, raising its forecast as domestic travel in China has recovered to pre-outbreak levels. .