PT LION MENTARI AIRLINES (LION AIR) - JAKARTA. Lion Air Group has decided to postpone the delivery of four more Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft this year following Sunday's crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302, the second accident involving the aircraft in the five months since Lion Air flight JT 610 crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 28, 2018.
Lion Air operates the largest fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Indonesia.
Lion Air Group managing director Daniel Putut said on Tuesday that the decision was made because the low-cost carrier was still awaiting the results of the investigation into the JT 610 accident.
“We are postponing the next delivery. We are still in discussion with Boeing,” Daniel said of the airline's order of additional MAX 8 aircraft.
Lion Air Group announced in 2011its commitment to ordering aircraft of the Boeing 737 MAX series.
Its records show that the airline has ordered 218 MAX 8 aircraft, four MAX 9 and 50 Boeing 737 MAX 10. It has received a total of 13 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to date, consisting of 11 MAX 8 and two MAX 9 aircraft.