flydubai not affected by Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 incident

flydubai has confirmed it is not impacted by the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) decision to ground certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft after an Alaska Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing.

In a statement sent to ARN News, a spokesperson for the Dubai carrier said "the three Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft in our fleet are not affected".

"flydubai operates Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft with a deactivated mid-aft exit door configuration which is not referenced in the directive," the statement added.

The Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) issued by FAA on January 6 said it will now require airlines to undertake inspections of their MAX 9 fleet before returning them to operation. 

It will impact 171 aircraft worldwide.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, scheduled to travel from Portland International Airport on Friday night to Ontario International Airport in California was forced to make an emergency landing about a half hour after takeoff after losing a window onboard.