Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority suspends all Boeing 737 Max 8 operations to and from Australia

Fiji Airways, in compliance with the directive by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority, has suspended all Boeing 737 MAX 8 operations to and from Australia.

A spokesperson for the airline company says while Fiji Airways is confident in the airworthiness of their Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft and their robust training programme, they respect Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s position.

Fiji Airways confirms that they will be changing the aircraft type operating to and from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide until further advised. It says some schedule changes are likely and affected customers will be notified.

Fiji Airways Boeing 737 Max 8 plane

The airline says they will continue to monitor the situation closely, and remain in constant contact with all relevant state regulators and authorities.

Fiji Airways says the safety of their passengers and crew is, and always will be, their number one priority.

Australia announced the temporary ban on flights by Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, although none of its airlines currently operate them.

ABC News reports Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said the ban will affect two foreign airlines ‑ SilkAir and Fiji Airways ‑ that use them for flights to Australia.

It said Singapore's SilkAir has already grounded its 737 Max 8 jets and they are working with regulators there and in Fiji to minimize disruptions.

Fiji Airways which has two 737 Max 8 jets in its fleet says that they have full confidence in the airworthiness of their fleet, as certified by their engineering team in accordance with Fijian and US Federal Aviation Administration standards.

The US Federal Aviation Administration has told airlines it believes Boeing's 737 Max 8 model to be airworthy.

Boeing said it has no reason to pull the popular aircraft from the skies.

It doesn't intend to issue any new recommendations about the aircraft to its customers.

So far, 15 countries have suspended flights of the plane into or out of their airspace.

They are Australia, Austria, Brazil, Cayman Islands, China, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iceland, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey and the United Kingdom.