Turkish Airlines to fly 737 MAX jets after authority approval

Turkish Airlines is to reinstate two of its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft next week after Turkey’s civil aviation authority gave its approval, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The Boeing 737 MAX was grounded globally in March 2019 after two deadly crashes. The source said Turkish Airline’s first flight is planned between Istanbul and the capital Ankara on April 12.

The airline declined to comment.

Regulators in the United States, Europe, Britain, Canada, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates are among those that have also approved the 737 MAX to return to flight following technical modifications and additional pilot training.

Separately, Boeing Co has asked 16 of its customers to address a potential electrical problem in certain 737 MAX aeroplanes prior to further operations.

It was not immediately clear if Turkish Airlines’ 737 MAX planes were impacted by the issue.

In December 2019, the flag carrier agreed a compensation deal with Boeing over the 737 MAX grounding. Turkish Airlines had 12 of the aircraft in its fleet at the time and could not take delivery of 12 more they had ordered due to the developments.