Vietnam allows Boeing 737 Max to enter its airspace again

By Nguyen Quy April 6, 2021 | 05:00 pm PT

A Boeing 737 MAX airplane lands after a test flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, U.S. June 29, 2020. Photo by Reuters/Karen Ducey.

Vietnam's Transport Ministry has allowed the Boeing 737 Max aircraft to pass through the country’s airspace after two years.

The decision was taken following a proposal made by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) last month, citing Boeing’s efforts to address technical issues of the aircraft and assessments by aviation authorities in the U.S. and Europe.

However, the ministry has ordered CAAV to continue monitoring related issues and updating itself with information from peers in China, Australia and Russia, countries that have not yet opened up their airspace for this aircraft model.

The ministry also said that after these countries lift their respective bans on the aircraft and if it meets Vietnamese regulations, the CAAV can report it for the ministry to consider permission for the aircraft to operate in and be imported into Vietnam.

The U.S. allowed the Boeing 737 Max to resume operations in December and Europe did so in January.

The Boeing 737 Max aircraft was grounded worldwide in March 2019 after 346 people were killed in two crashes in the space of a few months in Indonesia and Ethiopia.