March 13 (SeeNews) - Romanian flag carrier Tarom said on Wednesday that the five 737 MAX 8 aircraft it ordered last year from U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing will be manufactured in 2021, and the contract is therefore not affected for the time being by the EU aviation regulator's decision to suspend flights of Boeing 737-8 and 9 MAX aircraft in Europe.
"TAROM-commissioned aircraft type 737 MAX 8 are scheduled for construction at the end of 2021. We do not want to speculate on any aircraft that does not yet exist," Tarom said in a press release.
Tarom stressed that the decision of European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) does not affect its operations as it does have such aircraft in its fleet at the moment.
EASA took the decision to ground the aircraft after on Sunday, an Ethiopian Airlines flight involving a Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed, killing all people on board.
In July, Tarom signed a $586 million (520 million euro) contract with Boeing for five 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Tarom is operating on international and domestic routes with a fleet of 25 aircraft.
($= 0.8875 euro)