Kenya Airways Considers Buying Airbus Planes and Abort Initial Deal with Boeing

Kenya Airways is considering to abort its initial plan to buy Boeing 737 Max jets following the recent Ethiopian Airlines crash which has also prompted several airlines to ground the fuel-efficient aircraft.

Michael Joseph, the airline’s Chairman says that the Kenyan carrier will instead opt to buy the the larger 787 Dreamliner or acquire planes from Boeing’s rival Airbus SE.

He says that Kenya Airways will weigh in between the two while expanding its 737-800 fleet to realize its growth strategy,

“The number of aircraft we need in this range is not yet determined, As no decision has been taken yet, we will carefully follow the developments around the 737 Max. Studies may also show that we could enlarge our 737-800 fleet and of course as a responsible buyer, we also look at the Airbus options,” he was quoted by Bloomberg.

The European Union and several countries have also grounded the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft over safety concerns. According to New York Times, the European Union’s decision means roughly two-thirds of the Boeing 737 Max 8 planes worldwide have been pulled from use in 2 days.