Turkey shuts down airspace to all Boeing 737 MAX

ANKARA / ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

Turkey shut down its airspace to all Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 type aircraft, the Transportation and Infrastructure Ministry announced on March 13.

"The flights of all Boeing 737-8 MAX and Boeing 737-9 MAX type planes in Turkish airspace have been halted to ensure flight safety," the ministry said.

Flights without passengers were exempted from the decision.

On March 12, the ministry suspended Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 flights to and from Turkey, as they had been involved in two separate accidents within the past five months.

The ban would remain until further notice.

Turkey's flag carrier Turkish Airlines also announced it stopped its operation of 12 such planes.

Bilal Ekşi, the CEO of the carrier, said in a tweet the planes would be withdrawn from commercial flights as of March 13.

He stated that Turkish Airlines and the Boeing Company were in coordination regarding the issue.

On March 10, a Kenya-bound Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed just six minutes after taking off from an airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

All 157 people on board - 149 passengers and eight crew members - were killed in the crash.

It was the second deadly incident of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in less than five months.