A plane is seen under construction at Boeing plant in North Charleston,
Southern Carolina on March 25, 2018. Nigeria's airline Air Peace says
deal to buy 10 Boeing 737-Max aircrafts still on despite uproar against
the brand. PHOTO | LUC OLINGA | AFP
Nigeria’s leading carrier Air Peace insists it has no plan to
cancel its order for 10 737-MAX 800 planes in spite of the uproar
against the brand over recent crashes.
The airline Corporate Communications Manager, Mr Chris Iwarah, said any decision about cancelling the order would be premature.
Mr
Iwarah, however, said on Tuesday in Lagos that Air Peace would continue
to act in the interest of the safety of the flying public.
He
said the multi-million dollar deal signed between Air Peace and the
American aircraft manufacturer, The Boeing Company, on September 13,
2018 for the delivery of 10 brand new B737 MAX 800 aircraft, was still
on.
“At this moment, it is premature to begin to talk about things and conclusions that have not been put in the public domain.
“Investigations
into the crashes involving B737Max 800 are ongoing so it will not be
fair at this time to begin to make definite comments on those issues,”
he said.
The Air Peace spokesperson said the airline had not yet taken
delivery of the ordered aircraft, adding that before that time, issues
surrounding its safety must have been identified by global aviation
experts.
“We also trust that Boeing is capable of
responding to the issues technically. They have the capacity to respond
to that," Mr Iwarah said.
“I want to say clearly that
we will not engage in anything that will jeopardise the lives and safety
of our passengers. There is no basis for talking about cancelling the
order."
Ethiopian Airlines has grounded all
B-737-800MAX aircraft in its fleet following Sunday’s crash of its
Flight ET302, which killed all 157 persons on board.
The
aircraft en route Nairobi from Addis Ababa, crashed six minutes after
take-off around Bishoftu, 60km south-east of the Ethiopian capital.
The
crash was the second involving the B737 MAX 800 aircraft in the past
four months following October 2018 one involving a Lion Air plane, which
plunged into the sea off Jakarta, in Indonesia, killing all 189 people
on board.
Other carriers, including China have grounded the B737 MAX 800 aircraft in their fleets due to safety concerns.
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