Flydubai grounds its fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9

The airline said in a statement: “Flydubai is adjusting its schedule to minimise disruption to passengers and will operate flights with its fleet of Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft.  Where there are flight cancellations Flydubai will contact passengers directly.

“Flydubai continues to be in touch with the manufacturer and regulator.”

Analyst Saj Ahmad said of the announcement: “Flydubai’s decision to ground their fleet of 737 MAX 8s and 737 MAX 9s is a prudent step while investigators pore over the details from last weekends Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 crash.

“Given the flexibility that Flydubai has from its extensive 737-800 fleet, the airline will adjust its scheduled routes to replace those sectors served by the 737 MAX until regulators are in agreement that the fleet is good to fly.”

Ahmad added: “It is highly unlikely, that despite being the biggest 737 MAX customer in  the GCC that Flydubai will either cancel or defer orders. The costs would be immense and equally, the airline wouldn’t exactly be able to knock on Airbus’ door and get new airplanes any faster.

“For the here and now, the diligence in grounding the 737 MAX will allow Boeing, regulators and investigators to understand the Ethiopian Airlines crash while at the same time, roll out a suite of technical software enhancements to further make safe the 737 MAX for operations.”