Boeing 737 Max: Brazilian airline to resume passenger flights

Brazilian airline Gol says it will resume commercial flights with the Boeing 737 Max from Wednesday.

The plane was grounded worldwide in March 2019 following two deadly crashes which killed 346 people.

The Boeing 737 Max has since been overhauled and three weeks ago it was cleared to fly in the United States.

Gol, the biggest domestic airline in Brazil, says 140 of its pilots have undergone training on the overhauled plane in the US.

Gol said it planned to use its seven Boeing 737 Max planes on 27 commercial domestic flights. So far, only the US and Brazil have recertified the jet.

Boeing was forced to take the 737 Max out of service following two crashes within five months of each other, which together killed 346 people.

The aircraft manufacturer has since implemented a series of modifications including updating flight control software, revising crew procedures and rerouting internal wiring.

Gol's vice-president for operations, Celso Ferrer, said he had full confidence in the plane's safety following the modifications.

"For the past 20 months, we have been carrying out the most intensive safety review in the history of commercial aviation. Safety comes first and foremost," he wrote in a statement.

A company spokesman told AFP news agency that passengers could reschedule at no extra cost if they did not want to travel on the Boeing 737 Max.

"They will be able to reschedule the trip without fees or fare difference, maintaining the same origin and destination, within the validity period for the ticket, which is 12 months from the date of purchase," the spokesman said.

The announcement of the resumption of commercial flights is a boost for Boeing. As well as being the first commercial airline to use the Boeing 737 Max on commercial routes, Gol also confirmed it had 95 standing orders for the 737 Max with Boeing.

The news comes less than a week after Irish airline Ryanair said it had placed an order for 75 Boeing 737 Max aircraft.