Dubai International Airport. Photo by iStock.
Huawei is building a Modular Data Center Complex at Dubai International Airport. Photo: iStock.

Dubai, the world’s busiest airport for international travel, will no longer allow the Boeing 737 MAX 8 or 737 MAX 9 to take off or land on its runways after the controversial models were banned by the United Arab Emirates government.

“Following the Ethiopian Airways crash involving a Boeing 737-8 MAX, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority issued a Safety Decision banning the operation of all Boeing 737 MAX models in the UAE airspace with effect from 13 March 2019, 00:01 UTC Time until further notice,” a statement read.

It said the ban was a “precautionary measure” and that the GCAA would monitor and reassess the situation as more information on the latest incident was obtained.

Dubai International Airport, home to the flagship national carrier Emirates Airlines, saw 89.1 million travelers pass through its terminals in 2018, making it the world’s busiest hub for international travel. The UAE is also home to budget airline Fly Dubai, as well as the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airlines and the Sharjah-based Air Arabia.

The ban, it follows, represents a major blow for Boeing amidst a global backlash against the company’s insistence on the model’s safety and similar groundings of the jet from the European Union to China.

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