We have full confidence in the safety of 737 MAX aircraft: Boeing

New York, Mar 12: In the wake of several countries grounding 737 MAX 8 aircrafts after the Ethiopia plane crash on Sunday, the manufacturer of these aircraft, Boeing, has issued a statement saying that safety is the company's number one priority.

"Safety is Boeing's number one priority and we have full confidence in the safety of 737 MAX. We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home markets," the statement said.

We will continue to engage with them to ensure they've info needed to have confidence in operating their fleets. US Federal Aviation Administration isn't mandating any further action at the time and based on information available, we don't have any basis to issue new guidance to operators," it added.

France and the United Kingdom became the latest countries to ban 737 MAX aircraft from operating in their airspace. The French civil aviation authority said on Tuesday it had banned Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from France's airspace after a deadly crash of an Ethiopian plane of the same model.

The UK on Tuesday became yet another country to ban the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft from its airspace in the wake of the Ethiopian Airlines crash involving the model. The UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said passenger airlines using the aircraft will not be allowed to operate in or over UK airspace "as a precautionary measure" until further notice.

Norwegian Airlines, which flies planes out of the UK, has also suspended flights of its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. The UK joins Singapore, China, Malaysia and Australia, in grounding the jets after all 157 on board such an aircraft with Ethiopian Airlines died in a crash on Sunday.

It was the second fatal accident involving the 737 Max 8 model in less than five months - the previous crash involving a Lion Air aircraft in Indonesia in October last year when it crashed into the sea off Indonesia and killed all 189 on board. US officials say the aircraft are still safe to fly.

But the largest operator of 737 Max 8s in the US, Southwest Airlines, is offering passengers scheduled to fly on one of the Boeing planes the chance to change their bookings. Boeing said it had been developing a flight control software enhancement for several months since the Lion Air Flight 610 disaster last month.