Saudi Arabian low-cost carrier Flyadeal becomes the first airline to officially drop Boeing 737 MAX order. Flyadeal indicated that it will not proceed with its commitment for 50 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, choosing the Airbus A320neo aircraft instead.
Boeing lost a deal worth $5.9 billion with the cancellation of the provisional order by Flyadeal. In July 2019, the Saudi Arabian budget carrier announced an order for 30 A320neo aircraft and options for a further 20 A320neo family aircraft. The deliveries of the initial 30 aircraft ordered by its parent Saudi Arabian Airlines as part of its Paris Air Show deal, are scheduled from 2021.
“This order will result in flyadeal operating an all- Airbus A320 fleet in the future,” a statement by the airline said.
Boeing declared the commitment of Flyadeal for 30 737 MAX jets on December 2, 2018. Now, according to Reuters, “We understand that Flyadeal will not finalize its commitment to the 737 MAX at this time given the airline’s schedule requirements,” a Boeing spokesperson said.
The reason to switch the order points out the two fatal 737 MAX crashes that killed a total of 346 people.
Following the first airplane crash, which happened on October 29, 2018, Flyadeal expressed support for MAX jets via its official social media account on December 21, 2018. But the Saudi Arabian carrier kept its silence after the second airplane crash on March 10, 2019.
The Boeing 737 MAX was selected after a thorough analysis of the safety and efficiency of the aircraft by cross-functional internal committees and aviation experts. Our commercial evaluation also confirmed the suitability of the aircraft for flyadeal’s future growth plans
— طيران أديل (@flyadeal) 21. Dezember 2018