Image taken from Pixabay

Taipei, March 14 (CNA) Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) on Thursday issued a directive suspending all commercial flight operations of Boeing 737-8 and 737-9 planes, in the wake of two deadly air crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in less than five months.

The directive, effective from 7 p.m. Thursday, applies to all operators flying into, over, or out of Taiwan territory, the CAA said.

In addition, no permission will be granted for any flight plan of Boeing 737-8 and 737-9 operations, it added.

Currently, no Taiwanese airlines have Boeing 737MAXs in their fleets, according to local carriers.

On Sunday, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737-8 plane, crashed six minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board.

The accident followed that of Lion Air Flight 610, a plane of the same model, which crashed into the sea 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta on Oct. 29, 2018. All 189 people on board died.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration prohibited the operation of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by U.S. certified operators or in U.S. territory on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency suspended all flight operations of Boeing 737-8 and 737-9 airplanes in Europe and suspended all commercial flights performed by third-country operators into, within or out of the EU of the two models on Tuesday.

(By Chen Wei-ting and Y.F. Low)
Enditem/AW