The Federal Government has announced a ban on all Boeing 737 Max airplanes from flying in Nigeria’s airspace until further notice.
Nigeria’s Minister of State, Aviation, Heidi Sirika, spoke to State House Correspondents after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said: “Regarding Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9, that has been in the news recently, there is no cause for alarm as there is no operator in Nigeria that is using that type of airplane. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, whose mandate it is to issue advisory, has already issued advisory that nobody should fly into Nigeria or out of Nigeria using Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9, pending the determination of the actual cause of the crash in Ethiopia and also pending the outcome of the response of the manufacturer, which is Messers Boeing.
“Regardless of the enormous safety records of this plane 737, it has caused concern in the world of aviation and you know aviation is universal, whatever affects one affects the other because aircraft will be flying in and out. So, we have issued directive that no operator with Boeing 737 Max 8 or Max 9 should operate into and outside our airports and this is being carried out.
Meanwhile,there have been questions surrounding the safety of the Boeing 737 MAX aircrafts following its crash in Ethiopia over the weekend, a development which has triggered some reactions from airlines, aviation regulators and the world’s biggest plane maker itself.
Several airlines including from Indonesia, China, Morocco, Singapore and Ethiopia have grounded their fleets of the Boeing 737 MAX planes since the aircrash occurred.
The United States aviation regulator has also said it would task Boeing to implement design changes by April.
