Indonesian airline Garuda ditches order for Boeing planes after deadly crash

Indonesia’s national airline has become the first to cancel an order for the Boeing jet which has crashed twice in recent months.

Garuda Indonesia’s finance chief said the company had asked Boeing to change an order of 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, valued at around $6bn (£4.6bn). The firm plans to stick with Boeing and not switch to Airbus models, Fuad Rizal said.

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The airline becomes the first to publicly confirm a cancellation just a week after one of the jets crashed in Ethiopia, killing all 157 on board.

The accident followed another fatal crash of an Indonesian 737 Max, belonging to a Garuda rival, in October.

Garuda’s chief executive said customers no longer trusted the plane.

The airline’s decision comes after Boeing stopped deliveries of the plane. It shares have fallen 12 per cent since last week’s crash, taking $28bn off its market value.

Although Boeing insists its latest jet is safe, it has supported a US decision to ground all 737 Max planes, and is unlikely to be able to fly in Europe until authorities there have performed independent tests.

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Sources told Reuters that the manufacturer will make mandatory a previously optional cockpit warning light which could have helped pilots on the doomed flights. It comes after investigators found “clear similarities” between the two crashes.

Both planes had asked to return shortly after taking off from base, and pilots on the Ethiopian plane reportedly had to read the plane's handbook while they were going down.