The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) announced that it will recommend once again to allow the Boeing 737 MAX to utilize the country’s air space, and when applicable, to allow inbound and outbound flights.
The CAAV announced that it would issue a recommendation to Vietnam’s National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) to allow the Boeing 737 MAX to utilize the country’s air space on March 9, 2021. The recommendation was made on the “basis of the corrective work of Boeing, the assessment of the major aviation authorities in the world and the aircraft’s performance indicators,” read the authority’s announcement.
Nevertheless, flights with the Boeing 737 MAX to carry passengers in and out of Vietnam seem to be also dependent on other authorities’ decision, as the CAAV highlighted that it continues to “monitor and update information from the Aviation Authorities of China, Australia, and Russia.”
“After these Aviation Authorities allow operation, the Department will report to the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) and, when permitted, proceed to allow inbound flights and grant accreditation of Type Certificates,” added the CAAV.
Australia was the first authority in Asia-Pacific to allow the Boeing 737 MAX to fly once again, while the Chinese regulator expressed concerns and had not completed its final review of the aircraft as of early-March 2021.
While no current Vietnamese airlines have any 737 MAX aircraft in their fleet, VietJet, a low-cost carrier based in the country, has 200 aircraft of the type on order. However, the airline is not yet able to import the aircraft into the country, as the CAAV indicated that the process to permit the import of the 737 MAX will take between six and 12 months.
