Indonesia's Lion Air seeks to change Boeing 737 Max orders

JAKARTA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian low-cost airline Lion Air has sought to abort their orders of Boeing 737 Max planes and change them with others types after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines' aircraft on Sunday that killed all 157 people on board, the managing director of the airline said here on Tuesday.

Lion Air has ordered 222 Boeing 737 Max 8, 9 and 10 valued at 22 billion U.S. dollars with delivery by 2035, with 11 of them having arrived in the country, according to the airline.

The aircraft of the Ethiopian Airline crashed minutes after taking off, the second air tragedy of the similar brand new Boeing 737 Max 8 jet plane within less than six months. The first one occurred in October last year when a Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air plunged into the water off western parts of Indonesia minutes after taking off, killing all 189 people aboard.

Managing Director of Lion Air Group Daniel Putu said currently negotiators from the airline and Boeing's side have conducted talks and renegotiation on the cancelation of the orders, and the possibility to change them with other types of planes would be carried out.

"There must be (renegotiation). As we are discussing with them (Boeing)," the managing director said.

So far, Putu said both sides had not reached a deal but agreed to delay arrivals of four Boeing 737 Max jet planes ordered by the airline, which was previously scheduled to arrive in May this year.

Ten of Lion Air's Boeing 737 Max 8 jet planes, along with another owned by the state PT Garuda Indonesia airliner, have been suspended from flying by the Indonesian transport ministry for inspection following Sunday's fatal crash, spokesman of the ministry Hengki Angkasawan told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, President Director of PT Garuda Indonesia Gusti Ngurah Askhara said on Tuesday that Garuda is also seeking to drop its orders of 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jet planes from Boeing and change them with other types of planes.