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Indonesia’s flag carrier wants to cancel its order for 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets after the airline lost confidence in the model following two crashes, according to President Director I Gusti Ngurah Askhara Danadiputra. The planes were to be delivered through 2030, Danadiputra said. Garuda Indonesia has sought talks with Boeing on the cancellation plan, Danadiputra said in a text message on Thursday. The airline, which had ordered 50 Max 8 jets in 2014, has taken delivery of just one aircraft, which has been grounded after the Ethiopian Airlines crash Sunday. The planes were to be delivered through 2030, Danadiputra said. “After reviewing the latest development, especially the increasing customer concerns toward Max 8, we have lost the confidence in the product,” Danadiputra said. Garuda joins Indonesian private carrier Lion Air and a number of global airlines in weighing a switch away from Boeing’s Max jetliner to other aircraft after regulators around the world decided to ground Boeing’s most popular model.<br/>

China Eastern plans eventually to station 200 aircraft at the new Beijing Daxing International Airport that is scheduled to open this year, chairman Liu Shaoyong said. The company is assuming it will take 40% of traffic at Daxing, Liu notes that, given the airport’s intended capacity of 72m passengers a year in 2025, the forecast market share implies 28.8m passengers for China Eastern. “This is comparable with our traffic at Shanghai Pudong International,” Liu said, referring to one of the carrier’s two base airports in its home town. So Daxing International represents “China Eastern’s greatest opportunity for development.” <br/>