Indonesian Carrier Garuda No Longer Wants To Purchase 49 Boeing 737 MAX 8 - CEO

Indonesian airline Garuda wants to nullify its contract on the purchase of 49 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft because passengers no longer trust this type of plane following two crashes in less than six months, the company's CEO, I Gusti Ngurah Askhara Danadiputra, said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2019) Indonesian airline Garuda wants to nullify its contract on the purchase of 49 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft because passengers no longer trust this type of plane following two crashes in less than six months, the company's CEO, I Gusti Ngurah Askhara Danadiputra, said on Friday.

"In reality, we are confident in the Boeing MAX 8 product, it is passengers who have lost trust in it. Even if MAX 8 systems are fixed, passengers' trust is already gone. That is why we are asking [Boeing] to terminate the contract," the CEO noted as quoted by the Detik news portal.

A brand new Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed in central Ethiopia on March 10 soon after takeoff, killing all 157 people aboard.

In October, a crash of another new 737 MAX aircraft occurred off Indonesia's coast shortly after takeoff as well, claiming the lives of another 189 people.

Safety concerns have prompted a number of aviation authorities and airlines around the world to ground their Boeing 737 MAX fleets or close the countries' airspace to the planes of this model.

Boeing, in turn, has been forced to suspend the deliveries of the 737 MAX aircraft. According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Boeing may end up losing around $2.4 billion in 2019.