China’s decision to ground Boeing 737 MAX 8 driven by safety concerns, not US-China trade war: experts say
- Civil Aviation Administration of China ordered domestic carriers to temporarily ground the aircraft after fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday
- Likes of Singapore, Indonesia and Australia have also followed suit despite assurances from the US Federal Aviation Administration
China’s decision ordering domestic carriers to temporarily ground the Boeing 737 MAX 8 stems from safety concerns but any impact on the ongoing trade talks with the United States cannot be discounted, according to experts and analysts following Sunday’s fatal crash in Ethiopia.
“China’s civil aviation authorities prioritise safety [above everything], and the aviation industry is the world’s most complex, fastest-growing business and most high pressure work environment,” Li Xiaojin, chief of the Civil Aviation University of China’s air transport economics institute, said on Tuesday during an online forum.
Li said the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) had judged that the pressure and disruption on carriers and travellers would be manageable, given that the 737 MAX 8 accounts for just 3 per cent of the nation’s total fleet.