Chinese aviation regulators on Thursday  instructed airlines to make the changes needed to fly Boeing’s 737 Max planes again, indicating the jets could soon be flying in China after more than two and a half years.

China was one of many countries that grounded the Boeing 737 Max Max aircraft in March 2019, shortly after two other fatal accidents in the space of five months which combined killed 346 people. After Boeing had made changes to its software, the Federal Aviation Administration granted permission for planes that could fly on November 2020.

In a posted airworthiness directive on their website, the Civil Aviation Administration of China stated that “After conducting adequate assessment, CAAC considers corrective actions sufficient to address this unsafe situation.”

The shares of the aerospace manufacturer were more than 4% higher in premarket trades, Spirit AerosystemsThe fuselage manufacturer,, traded more than 9 percent higher.

Boeing stated in a statement that “The CAAC decision is an important milestone towards safely returning the 737 MAX into service in China.” Boeing continues to cooperate with regulators, customers and other stakeholders to bring the plane back to service around the world.

On a quarterly conference call held in October, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun stated to analysts that China would lift its grounding and that plane deliveries will likely resume in 2022’s first quarter.

Brian West, the CFO, stated that around a third of all the 370 Max planes Boeing currently has are available for Chinese airlines.