On July 5, 2021, the aircraft lessor BOC Aviation announced it had delivered the seventh Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft to German multinational travel and tourism company TUI Group. All BOC-delivered Boeing 737 MAX 8 are powered by CFM LEAP-1B engines.
“We are delighted to work with our long-standing customer TUI, and to provide TUI with the most fuel-efficient, latest technology aircraft. Following the international recertification of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, we delivered all seven aircraft to TUI in just four months, which reflects a high level of teamwork on both sides,” Robert Martin, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, BOC Aviation, was quoted in a statement.
Currently, TUI Group has a total of 25 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in its fleet, as per planespotters.net data. 13 out of 25 737 MAX 8 aircraft are in service while other 12 MAXs are still parked.
The Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was grounded in 2019, following two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, claiming 346 lives. Both crashes of Lion Air flight JT610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 in March 2019 were blamed on a malfunction of the MCAS system. The system, which at the time was a little-known innovation installed on all Boeing MAX planes, is activated when the angle of attack (AOA) sensors indicate that the airframe is in a dangerous angle and attempts to correct it. The lack of redundancy in the design combined with a faulty sensor caused the downings of flights ET302 and JT610.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ungrounded the aircraft on November 18, 2021.
