The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has started its preparation to return grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to service.

Boeing 737 MAX has been temporarily grounded since March 2019, following two fatal crashes Indonesia and Ethiopia that claimed 346 lives.

The EASA completed its test flights of the Boeing 737 MAX in Vancouver, Canada, in September.

The agency has published a proposed airworthiness directive (PAD) regarding the Boeing 737 MAX for public consultation.

It will be publishing its final airworthiness directive after completing the 28-day consultation period on the directive.

EASA has also laid out various conditions to return the aircraft back into service, including new mandatory training for all pilots and updating MCAS software, as well as flight manuals and testing systems.

Last week, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the State of Design for Boeing aircraft, published its final approval of the modified 737 MAX in the Federal Register.

EASA executive director Patrick Ky said: “EASA made clear from the outset that we would conduct our own objective and independent assessment of the 737 MAX, working closely with the FAA and Boeing, to make sure that there can be no repeat of these tragic accidents, which touched the lives of so many people.

“I am confident that we have left no stone unturned in our assessment of the aircraft with its changed design approach.

“Each time when it may have appeared that problems were resolved, we dug deeper and asked even more questions.

“The result was a thorough and comprehensive review of how this plane flies and what it is like for a pilot to fly the MAX, giving us the assurance that it is now safe to fly.”

Earlier this week, UAE-based civil aviation regulator General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) also revealed its plan to bring the grounded Boeing 737 MAX back to service.