S.Korea's budget carrier decides to ground Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets

SEOUL, March 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's low-cost carrier Eastar Jet decided on Tuesday to temporarily ground Boeing 737 Max 8 passenger jets as part of efforts to alleviate public concerns about the plane's safety, according to Yonhap news agency.

The Eastar Jet is the only South Korean air carrier that owns two Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, produced by the U.S. aerospace company Boeing.

The budget carrier introduced the Boeing jets late last year and early this year, using them on routes to Japan and Southeast Asian countries.

The grounding decision came as public concerns mounted here about the Boeing plane following the crash of the same Ethiopian Airlines jet.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 plane of the Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa over the weekend, killing all of the 157 people on board.

Another Boeing 737 Max 8 jet, flown by the Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air, crashed in October last year and killed all 189 people on board the ill-fated plane.

South Korea's transport ministry conducted an emergency safety check on Monday on the two Boeing planes, owned by the budget carrier.

Other South Korean air carriers, including the biggest Korean Air Lines and the budget carrier T'way Air, were slated to introduce the Boeing jets later this year.