Vietnam closes air space to Boeing 737 Max

HANOI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam decided to close the Vietnamese air space to Boeing 737 Max since 10:00 am local time of Wednesday, after a plane of this type crashed in Ethiopia on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board.

"After assessing information relating to operations of Boeing 737 Max, to ensure flight safety, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has temporarily decided not to grant new licenses and suspend the validity of already-granted licenses for flights using Boeing 737 Max planes in the Vietnamese air space.This safety order is to take effect from 10:00 am local time, March 13, 2019 until a new decision," the authority announced on its website.

Earlier, the European Aviation Safety Agency decided to ground all Boeing 737 Max flights in Europe (that includes Boeing 737 Max 8 and Boeing 737 Max 9).

To date, no airlines in Vietnam have used Boeing 737 Max. Three foreign airlines, including South Korea' Eastar Jet, Thailand's Thai Lion Air and Malaysia's Malindo Air, have flights using Boeing 737 Max to Vietnam, but they have announced to cease using the plane series after the accident in Ethiopia, Vietnamese online newspaper VnExpress reported on Wednesday.