Boeing 737 Max aircraft: Air Peace awaits outcome of probe

The management of Air Peace on Wednesday said it was awaiting the outcome of the investigation of Boeing before making a decision on its planned acquisition of 737 Max aircraft.

Recall that the Nigerian carrier had signed a multi-million dollar agreement with aircraft manufacturers, The Boeing Company, for the purchase of 10 brand new B737 Max aircraft in 2018.

Each of the Boeing 737 MAX cost about $113 million but the deal with Boeing comes with a package that has not only slashed the price by half, but also allows for easy access to spare parts and the training and retraining of pilots, engineers, and cabin crew of Air Peace.

However, due to the fatal crash of an Ethiopian Airline two weeks ago that led to the death of all 157 passengers, Nigeria, like some other countries suspended the aircraft from their airspace pending the outcome of investigation.

In a statement released by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema, the airline made the order before the model was involved in two fatal accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia respectively.

Onyema noted that other airlines were also expecting the outcome of the investigation and steps to be taken by Boeing which would determine either to continue with the order or cancel it, although Nigeria, like many other countries, had banned the aircraft in its airspace.

Onyema said, “Air Peace does not have the aircraft in its fleet, so I wonder why Nigerians are attacking the airline, while nobody had attacked the carriers that have the aircraft and are operating the equipment before the accidents.”

“We are not saying we are cancelling neither are we saying we are not cancelling because no airline that ordered for the aircraft had said it is cancelling. Everybody is waiting for the outcome of the investigation.

“What airlines that have the aircraft have done now is ground them until the result of the investigation comes out. And at the same time, countries are banning them from flying in their airspace until the investigation comes out,” he explained.

However, the company confirmed the delivery of its fourth Boeing 777 aircraft on Wednesday which would commence international flights in April with Dubai and Sharjah as first destinations.