SilkAir’s Boeing 737 Max 8 flights operating as usual amid global concerns
SilkAir’s 737 MAX 8 aircraft flies to several Asian destinations including Chongqing, Darwin, Hiroshima, Kuala Lumpur and Phnom Penh.
SINGAPORE — SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines (SIA), said on Monday (March 11) that its Boeing 737 Max 8 flights are operating as scheduled, adding that it is “closely monitoring developments” following the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
SilkAir’s 737 Max 8 aircraft flies to several Asian destinations including Chongqing in China, Darwin in Australia, Hiroshima in Japan, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
An SIA spokesperson said: “We are in contact with Boeing and are closely monitoring developments. The safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance to SilkAir.”
SilkAir has six Boeing 737 Max 8 planes in its fleet, with another 31 ordered and due to be delivered.
Concerns over the aircraft surfaced after an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 bound for Nairobi in Kenya crashed minutes after take-off on March 10, killing all 157 people on board and prompting the carrier to ground the rest of its 737 Max 8 fleet.
It was the second crash involving the 737 Max 8, the latest version of Boeing's workhorse narrowbody jet that first entered service in 2017. In October, a 737 Max 8 operated by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air crashed 13 minutes after take-off from Jakarta on a domestic flight, killing all 189 passengers and crew on board.
Following the latest crash, China's aviation regulator on Monday grounded nearly 100 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft operated by its airlines — more than a quarter of the global fleet of the jets.
In Malaysia, the country’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that his government and the national carrier Malaysia Airlines has not made any immediate decision on whether they will continue the purchase of the aircraft. Malaysia Airlines had ordered an unspecified number of Boeing 737 Max 8 planes.
