The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued an Airworthiness Directive suspending Boeing 737 MAX operations within Europe effective from 12th of March 2019, 19:00 UTC, which means that EU operators are prohibited from using the aircraft.
EASA also issued a Safety Directive, also valid from 19:00 UTC, meaning that 737 MAX airplanes from third country operators, into, out of or within the EU also are prohibited from operating it and is overriding any in place by individual EASA members.
This announcement follows after EASA members, including the United Kingdom and Germany banned the Boeing 737 MAX airplanes. The suspension impacts both Boeing 737 MAX 8 and the 737 MAX 9.
The ban of the 737 MAX airplane follows the tragic incident on Sunday where an airplane from Ethiopian Airlines crashed six minutes after takeoff and another incident in October last year with the Lion Air crash that both were under similar circumstances.
Currently the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has not grounded the airplane, and Boeing along with several American Boeing 737 MAX operators continue to defend the safety of the airplane, however with the growing pressure on Boeing and the FAA, we would expect an announcement at some stage.