Azerbaijan airline AZAL has scrapped a $1bn contract with Boeing to acquire 10 737 MAX jets, it said on June 3.
The flag carrier’s move follows the fatal crashes involving the aircraft in Ethiopia and Indonesia and the subsequent grounding of them worldwide while Boeing deals with safety concerns. A spokesman for AZAL cited "safety reasons" in explaining the cancelled contract.
The 737 MAX 8 aircraft has only been in commercial use since 2017. Prior to the accidents, the 737 MAX was Boeing’s top-selling plane.
Countries around the world have banned the jets from flying over their airspace since an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crashed after takeoff from Addis Ababa on March 3, killing all 157 people on board. The previous October, a Lion Air plane of that make fell into the ocean off the coast of Indonesia, killing 189 people.
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