flydubai’s grounded fleet has been undergoing a thorough scheduled maintenance programme following the announcement from the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) and the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to suspend all passenger operations until further notice.

The airline has received the guidance issued by the manufacturer to all Next-Generation Boeing 737 operators on scheduled maintenance tasks during the grounding period and has incorporated the additional guidance material into the flydubai approved maintenance programme.

The low-cost carrier made the decision to split its fleet utilising its two engineering and maintenance bases. The Boeing 737 MAX fleet is being maintained in an Active Storage procedure which means that all systems are kept operational and are exercised and operated during the weekly maintenance checks which takes up to 18 hours per aircraft per week.

Mick Hills, senior vice president of engineering and maintenance at flydubai said: “Our team of highly qualified and experienced engineers are working around the clock to perform the scheduled aircraft maintenance tasks to ensure all our aircraft are maintained to the highest levels of airworthiness in preparation for return to service (RTS).”