The European Union temporarily banned flights of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft before the completion of the investigation of the causes of the aviation crash in Ethiopia, which killed 157 people.
The shares of the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing collapsed earlier today, reducing the company’s market value by more than 25 billion USD in just two days after further withdrawals from the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
Britain, Turkey, France, Germany, Ireland, Austria, and the UK, joined Singapore, China, and Australia temporarily banning operations of the aircraft. A little later, such a ban was also announced by Italy, Belgium, Poland, the Netherlands and Norway.
The Boeing 737 MAX line is the fastest selling aircraft in the history of the company. More than 5,000 orders have been accepted already, with unpaid orders valued at nearly 500 billion USD at catalog prices.
The US aviation authorities have given Boeing a deadline by April to make changes but declared the airplane capable for flight. They do not need a flight ban.
According to security experts, it is still too early to speculate what caused the crash, with the black boxes still having to indicate the cause.
On the other hand, Russian airline S7 said it had no information on the unreliability of the Boeing 737 MAX 8. Earlier, S7 indicated that it had not received any recommendations to stop flights of this model after the crash with Ethiopian airlines.
At the same time, Canadian Transport Minister said that his country does not plan to stop flights with the Boeing 737 MAX 8 but is ready to act for their suspension depending on the development of the investigation of the aviation crash. The two main Canadian airlines – Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd – have a total of 37 aircraft Boeing 737 MAX 8.
A number of European, African, Asian and Central American airlines have already announced the suspension of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft and its modifications. Authorities in some of these countries have temporarily ordered the use of their airspace by such aircraft.
