The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced it has completed its certification test flights on the Boeing 737 MAX.

The FAA will now evaluate data from the three days of testing which took place this week. The tests are a key milestone toward the plane’s return to service.

A statement issued by the FAA said: “The agency is following a deliberate process and will take the time it needs to thoroughly review Boeing’s work. We will lift the grounding order only after FAA safety experts are satisfied that the aircraft meets certification standards.”

The MAX has been grounded since March 2019 after two fatal crashes in five months in Indonesia and Ethiopia which killed 346 people.