Following the deadly Ethiopia plane crash, Singapore’s aviation regulator on Tuesday banned the use of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in the country’s airspace.
The decision came two days after the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 went down minutes into a flight to Nairobi Sunday, killing all 157 people on board. The incident took place months after a Lion Air jet of the same model crashed in Indonesia killing 189.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) in a statement said that it was “temporarily suspending operation of all variants of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into and out of Singapore in light of two fatal accidents involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in less than five months.”
ALSO READ: Why Boeing needs to provide answers regarding airline safety
It comes as airlines around the world remove the model from their schedules, while US regulators have ordered Boeing to make urgent improvements to the jet.
Singapore’s suspension will take effect from 2:00 pm (0600 GMT) Tuesday, the authority said.
It said that SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, operates six Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
Meanwhile, Indian aviation regulator DGCA on Monday issued additional safety instructions for Boeing 737 MAX planes operating in the country.
Issuing the notice to SpiceJet and Jet Airways, the two carriers of Boeing 737 MAX in India, DGCA directed that the plane should be operated by a pilot with at least 1,000 hours of flying experience on such an aircraft while the co-pilot must have at least 500 hours of experience.
“The DGCA will continue to closely monitor the situation and may impose/ take any other operational/ maintenance measures/ restrictions based on the information received from accident investigation agency/ FAA/ Boeing,” the regulator said in a statement.
Other airlines operating the planes to Singapore are China Southern Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Shandong Airlines and Thai Lion Air.