BRUSSELS - The European aviation regulator has today deemed that Boeing’s 737 Max model is fit to return to service after being grounded for nearly two years.

The decision by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will be a considerable boost to the US giant ahead of today’s full year results.

Analysts are predicting that the manufacturer could be hit by a record loss of around $5.7bn as a result of the twin crises of the grounding and the coronavirus pandemic.

EASA executive director Patrick Ky said: “We have every confidence that the aircraft is safe, which is the precondition for giving our approval.

“But we will continue to monitor 737 MAX operations closely as the aircraft resumes service,”

Since March 2019, the 737 Max has been suspended from flying after two fatal crashes killed a combined 346 people.

In November the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) said that the aircraft could return to service after the 20-month suspension.

The body has demanded new pilot training and software upgrades to deal with a stall-prevention system called MCAS, which was found to be at fault in both crashes.

The crashes, and subsequent grounding, triggered the worst crisis in Boeing’s history, which was then compounded by the coronavirus pandemic.

Executives will later today lay out the full impact of the pandemic on the firm’s earnings, with airlines around the world having cancelled deliveries and new orders in droves.

In total, new deliveries totalled just 157 last year, a 43-year low and less than 20 per cent of Boeing’s record of 806, which was set in 2018.

As a result of the crisis, the manufacturer has been forced to cut 7,000 jobs.