MAS, AirAsia and Malindo do not operate 737 MAX

PETALING JAYA: Neither Malaysia Airlines (MAS), AirAsia nor Malindo – the country’s three main air car­riers – operate the Boeing 737 MAX 8 which has been grounded in China and Ethiopia after the second deadly crash involving the aircraft.

However, MAS which has the aircraft on order, said it was seeking more technical details from the aircraft manufacturer.

MAS said that it was still too early to comment on the crash as the cause had yet to be ascertained.

“We have, however, written to Boeing seeking for more technical details ahead of the delivery of our order expected in 2020,” the national carrier said in a statement.

According to MAS, the national carrier now operates 54 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which is an earlier model of the 737 compared to the 737 MAX.

AirAsia does not operate any Boeing 737 MAX as its fleet of aircraft comprised only aircraft made by Europe’s Airbus.

Malindo CEO Chandran Rama Murthy said the airline also did not operate the 737 MAX at present.

The airline’s current fleet included 29 Boeing 737 jets, comprising the 737-900ER and 737-800 models, he said.

When asked, Chandran said neither the 737-900ER nor the 737-800 had any issues.

He said Malindo briefly had three 737 MAX aircraft in its fleet but no longer operated them.

Chandran said the airline took delivery of three 737 MAX in 2017 but found that they were not suitable for its use.

“The configuration was not according to our business model, so we returned the aircraft to Lion Air Group within three months of receiving them,” he said.

Indonesia’s Lion Group owns 49% of Malindo.

Boeing, meanwhile, extended its sympathies to the families and loved ones of passengers and crew aboard the ill-fated Ethiopian Air­lines Flight 302 bound for Nairobi, Kenya, which crashed on Sunday shortly after take off from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

“A Boeing technical team will be travelling to the crash site to provide technical assistance under the direction of the Ethiopia Accident In­­vestigation Bureau and US Na­­tional Transportation Safety Board,” the US aircraft manufacturer said on its website.