Jakarta: Indonesian low-cost airline Lion Air has sought to abort its orders of Boeing 737 Max planes and change them with other types following the crash of an Ethiopian Airliner of the same model that killed all 157 people on board, officials said on Tuesday.
Lion Air ordered 222 Boeing 737 Max 8, 9 and 10 valued at $22 billion, with 11 of them having arrived in the country, according to the airline.
The Ethiopian Airliner crashed minutes after taking off, the second air tragedy of the Boeing 737 Max 8 model in less than six months.
The first one occurred in October when a Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air plunged into the watera off the western parts of Indonesia minutes after taking off, killing all 189 people aboard.
Managing Director of Lion Air Group Daniel Putu said negotiators from the airline and Boeing’s side conducted talks and renegotiation on the cancellation of the orders and the possibility to change them with other types of planes would be carried out.
Ten of Lion Air’s Boeing 737 Max 8 jet planes, along with another owned by the state PT Garuda Indonesia airliner, were suspended from flying by the Indonesian Transport Ministry for inspection following Sunday’s fatal crash, Ministry spokesman Hengki Angkasawan said.
Meanwhile, President Director of PT Garuda Indonesia Gusti Ngurah Askhara said on Tuesday that Garuda was also seeking to drop its orders of 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jet planes from Boeing and change them with other types of planes.
–IANS
