China's Civil Aviation Administration mandated that airlines ground all Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft by 6 p.m. local time on Monday, following the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people and a prior Indonesia Lion Air disaster. The directive cited similarities between the incidents and required confirmation of safety measures before resuming operations.
The administration stated it would coordinate with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing to address concerns. The Ethiopian Airlines flight, bound for Kenya, crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa on Sunday, while the Lion Air crash in October claimed 189 lives.
China represents a critical market for Boeing, accounting for 20% of global 737 MAX deliveries. As of January 2019, 76 MAX aircraft had been delivered to Chinese carriers, with 104 more on order. A joint Boeing-COMAC facility in Zhoushan, China, completes interiors for these planes, with the first MAX 8 delivered to Air China in December 2018.
