About 24 hours after the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday that killed all 157 people on board, Nigerians have taken to their twitter handles to demand that AirPeace and prospective airliner, Green Airways should stop the purchase of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

This is as China and Ethiopia have grounded all Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft while a number of airlines across the world are carrying out safety measures on the jets.

Nigeria’s largest domestic carrier, AirPeace ordered for 10 of the same aircraft brand.

Also, Green Airways Africa, a prospective domestic carrier also claimed to have ordered for 100 of the same B737-800 MAX from the aircraft manufacturer.

Ugo Obi-Chukwu with twitter handle @ugodre stated that “AirPeace should keep a close eye.”

Ucher Demola with twitter handle @OmoGbejaBiamila ‘AirPeace better cancel the order for the Boeing 737 max now.”

Post Malonogedede with twitter handle @ICONOREOLUWA stated that ‘I really hope AirPeace will return these planes.

On Monday, China ordered its domestic airlines to suspend the commercial operation of nearly 100 of the jets in question. Ethiopian Airlines followed China’s announcement by grounding all of its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft as well, according to a spokesperson.

The crash, that took place just outside Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, comes just months after another deadly accident involving the same model in Indonesia when a Lion Air flight crashed after take-off from Jakarta in October, killing all 189 people on board.

Noting the “similarities” between the two accidents, China’s Civil Aviation Administration said domestic airlines have until 6pm local time (10:00 GMT) to ground all 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

It said operation of the model will only resume after “confirming the relevant measures to effectively ensure flight safety,” the administration said in a statement.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.

Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date

Open In Whatsapp