India's SpiceJet expects to start operations of Boeing’s grounded 737 Max jets at the end of September after the company entered into a settlement deal with Avolon on leases of the aircraft. “As India emerges from Covid and air traffic picks up again, the Max aircraft will play a major role in our future expansion,” Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, said on the company website. “With a better and a more efficient fleet back in operation we expect a significant reduction in our operating costs, improving our bottom line.” Boeing’s best-selling narrow-body jet was grounded around the world in March 2019 after crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people. The incidents triggered a series of investigations that led to aircraft certification reforms and cost Boeing about $20 billion. Boeing <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/aviation/2021/07/28/boeing-records-first-profit-since-2019-on-higher-737-max-deliveries/" target="_blank">posted its first quarterly profit</a> in almost two years as deliveries of its 737 Max model picked up and air travel demand improved on the back of rapid Covid-19 vaccination campaigns globally. The US plane maker swung to a second-quarter net profit of $567 million, from a loss of $2.4bn in the same quarter last year, Boeing said last month. Revenue rose 44 per cent year on year to $17bn, beating analysts’ estimates of $16.5bn, compiled by Refinitiv. India’s air safety regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, allowed 737 Max aircraft to fly with immediate effect on Thursday, after nearly two and a half years of regulatory grounding. The UAE's civil aviation regulator <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/aviation/boeing-737-max-to-return-to-uae-skies-after-regulator-lifts-safety-ban-1.1168159">also lifted</a> a 23-month ban on the Boeing 737 Max jet earlier this year and deemed the aircraft safe to return to the skies. The UAE is home to <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/aviation/flydubai-prepares-for-boeing-737-max-to-rejoin-its-fleet-1.1168524">flydubai,</a> one of the world's biggest customers of the 737 Max aircraft.