Travel

Boeing 737 Max 8 grounded until August – here’s what it means for your summer holiday


THE Boeing 737 Max 8 is unlikely to return to the air before August, the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) revealed.

With so many planes still grounded, and the busy summer season coming up, we explain how your holiday might be affected.

 Norwegian has been affected by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max

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Norwegian has been affected by the grounding of the Boeing 737 MaxCredit: Alamy

The model was grounded worldwide earlier this year following the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people – the second deadly crash in just five months.
In October last year, a Lion Air flight crashed in Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.

IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac told reporters in Seoul earlier this week: “We do not expect something before 10 to 12 weeks in re-entry into service.

“But it is not our hands. That is in the hands of regulators.”

Concerned Brits may be wondering what it means for their holiday.

Airlines across the UK were affected after the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) suspended the operation of 737 Max models in UK airspace.


GROUNDED As CAA bans Boeing 737 Max 8 from UK airspace, here’s how Tui and Norwegian Air passengers will be affected


Boeing 737 Max 8 banned from UK airspace following Ethiopian Airlines plane crash that killed all 157 on board

Norwegian Air and TUI were the two airlines operating in the UK that were affected, but a number of other airlines that fly to the UK also saw disruptions.

TUI had five 737 Max 8 aircraft in operation and was due to begin flying a sixth.

Norwegian Airlines has 18 in its fleet and serves London Gatwick, Manchester and Edinburgh.

At the moment, it’s unlikely that flights will be cancelled.

In the case of Norwegian and TUI, alternative planes were sourced through contract airlines when the Max 8 was first grounded – such as Albastar Air for TUI.

 TUI was also affected by the Boeing 737 Max

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TUI was also affected by the Boeing 737 MaxCredit: Alamy

Tui previously said in a statement: “Customers due to travel in the coming days will travel on holiday as planned on other aircraft.”

And a Norwegian spokesperson told Sun Online Travel that measures have been put in place so customers can still “continue to travel as planned”.

But with replacement planes in operations, some passengers may find their bookings altered.

With a change in planes for example, extra leg room seats may not be in the same locations as when you originally booked your flights.

American Airlines, a code-share partner of British Airways, confirmed that 115 flights will be cancelled a day, although will replace some flights with alternative models.

This may lead to  non-Boeing 737 Max flights also being cancelled for those planes to replace other routes, with passengers alerted if they are affected.

British Airways travellers will not be affected.

A United spokesperson told Sun Online Travel: “Since the grounding of the Boeing MAX aircraft in March, United has gone to great lengths to minimise the impact on our customers’ travel plans.

“We’ve used spare aircraft and other creative solutions to help our customers, who had been scheduled to travel on one of our 14 MAX aircraft, get where they are going.  But, it’s harder to make those changes at the peak of the busy summer travel season.”

They confirmed that 35-40 flights a day would be cancelled in June, with 40-45 flights cancelled per day in July.

Boeing previously admitted that a “catastrophic fault” caused the two crashes before the 737 Max model was grounded.

However in April, Boeing revealed they were working on control system fixes for the planes.
As part of the upgrade, Boeing will install a visual warning system as standard, which was previously an optional safety feature.





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