Canadian plane producer Bombardier says China has lift a ban imposed on operating its regional jets after one of the aircraft crashed killing 54 people last month.

The Montreal-based firm said it confirms that the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China or CAAC has advised operators to resume Bombardier CRJ200 scheduled passenger service in China.

China's Xinhua news agency earlier reported that 18 CRJ200 planes had passed safety checks and would soon be allowed to resume flying.

China has about 20 CRJ200 aircraft owned by seven different airlines.

Aviation authorities ordered the immediate grounding of all CRJ planes produced by Canada's Bombardier a day after the crash in Inner Mongolia on November 21.

The China Eastern Airlines jet plunged into a lake soon after take-off from Baotou city. No reason for the crash has been made public, although officials have ruled out terrorism or sabotage.

It was the deadliest aviation disaster in China since May 2002 when 112 were killed after their plane plunged into the ocean near the northeastern port city of Dalian.

Source: CRI 
2004/12/24