In light of fatal accidents of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced temporarily suspending operations of all variants of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into and out of the country. 

The suspension took effect 12 March 2019 2 PM local time. According to the statement, the operations of 737 MAX aircraft will be resumed after the CAAS receives relevant safety information. Singapore is “monitoring the situation and is in close communication with the US Federal Aviation Administration and other aviation regulators, as well as Boeing”.

As for now, Singapore is the only country that suspended operations of all Boeing 737 MAX variants.

The carrier of Singapore affected by the suspension of MAX aircraft is SilkAir, regional airline of Singapore, which operates 6 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The airline is closely cooperating with Singapore Airlines and to avoid major disturbance and lessen inconveniences experienced by passengers.

What concerns flights into the country, the airlines flying Boeing 737 MAX to Singapore are China Southern Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Shandong Airlines and Thai Lion Air. “CAAS is working with Changi Airport Group and the affected airlines to minimise any impact to travelling passengers”.

Singapore is not the only country suspending 737 MAX operations. On 10 March Ethiopian Airlines grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in its fleet. On 11 March China’s aviation authority requested domestic carriers to ground all Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.