MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. Russian air carrier Pobeda (part of the Aeroflot Group) waived its contract to purchase Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, but will incur no penalty, because the plane is still not authorized for use in Russia, the company’s CEO Andrei Kalmykov told reporters.
"Yes, we have waived solid contracts for Boeing 737 MAX without any penalty," he said.
In 2019, Boeing paused deliveries of 737 Max to customers due to the temporary grounding, caused by two fatal crashes within the period of about six months - in Indonesia in October 2018 and in Ethiopia in March 2019. Both crashes were blaimed on the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which activated in response to erroneous angle of attack information. After that, flights of Boeing 737 MAX were suspended.
Later, Boeing fixed the error. Currently, flights of the plane are permitted by several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan. Russia is not among them.
Head of the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko told reporters that the issue of certifying Boeing 737 MAX in Russia will be raised again when global epidemiological situation improves.