SilkAir's Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes operating as scheduled; airline 'monitoring development'
SilkAir’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are currently operating as scheduled, said the airline’s parent carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) on Monday (11 March).
The SIA added that it is “closely monitoring developments” following the recent crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane of the same model.
Nairobi-bound Flight ET302 crashed six minutes after it took off on Sunday, killing all 157 passengers and crew members. There were no Singaporeans aboard the flight.
SilkAir’s six Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes currently service flights to Bengaluru, Cairns, Chongqing, Darwin, Hiroshima, Hyderabad, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Phnom Penh, Phuket, and Wuhan. Another 31 planes of the same model are on firm order, said an SIA spokesperson.
“We are saddened by the loss of flight ET302 and our hearts go out to those affected. We are in contact with Boeing and are closely monitoring developments,” added the spokesperson.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance to SilkAir.”
Plane that crashed was new
Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest carrier, said on Monday that it was grounding its remaining fleet of six Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes “until further notice”. The plane that crashed on Sunday was new and delivered to Ethiopia on in November, it added.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane is the latest version of Boeing’s workhorse narrow-body jet that first entered service in 2017.
China’s aviation regulator has also grounded nearly 100 Boeing Co 737 MAX 8 planes operated by its airlines, more than a quarter of the global fleet of the jets.
The deadly crash comes less than five months after an aircraft of the same model operated by Indonesian Lion Air crashed 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta last October. All all 189 people on board perished in the incident.
Boeing has described its MAX series as its fastest-selling airplane ever, with more than 4,500 orders placed by July from 99 customers worldwide, according to Reuters.
Yahoo News Singapore has reached out to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore for comment.
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