UAE doesn’t expect the Boeing 737 Max to fly this year

The Boeing 737 Max is unlikely to be back in service before next year, the United Arab Emirates’ aviation regulator said, contradicting the manufacturer’s timeline for its return.

Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of the General Civil Aviation Authority, said he expects the plane to be back in the first quarter of next year. Boeing had set a fourth-quarter target.

The UAE, whose flyDubai is one of the largest customers of 737 Max, won’t rely solely on the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s assessment of the jet’s airworthiness and will conduct its own checks before the plane can use its airspace and airports again, Al Suwaidi said in Dubai on Sunday.

“We won’t fly the Max until we are 100 per cent sure,” he said.