UPDATE - Germany bans Boeing 737 MAX airplanes from airspace

CHANGES LEDE, ADDS BANS FROM MORE COUNTRIES

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Germany said Tuesday it has banned Boeing 737 MAX planes from its airspace following a weekend plane crash in Ethiopia that killed everyone on board.

Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer told local n-tv television the ban was effective immediately.

“Security comes first. I have ordered the closure of German air space immediately to Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, and this will be effective until all doubts are cleared,” he said.

France also joined the growing number of countries banning Boeing 737 MAX airplanes.

"Given the circumstances of the accident in Ethiopia, the French authorities have taken the decision, as a precautionary measure, to ban all commercial flights of Boeing 737 MAXs into, out of, or over French territory," the French civil aviation authority DGAC said in a statement.

The Netherlands also closed its airspace to the Boeing 737 MAX, said Infrastructure Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen.

Austrian Transport Minister Norbert Hofer also said security is the top priority in aviation and they have grounded Boeing 737 MAX from Austria’s airspace for the safety of passengers and aircraft.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has also suspended all flight operations of Boeing 737-8 MAX and 737-9 MAX planes from European airspace.

"EASA has published a Safety Directive, effective as of 19:00 UTC, suspending all commercial flights performed by third-country operators into, within or out of the EU of the above-mentioned models," it said in a statement.

On Sunday, a Kenya-bound Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed just six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

All 157 people on board – 149 passengers and eight crew members – representing 35 countries were killed in the crash.

It was the second deadly crash involving a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in less than five months. In October, Lion Air flight JT610 crashed outside of Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.