CLEVLEAND — Low-cost airline Icelandair announced it's canceling service to Cleveland because of the indefinite grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 8, according to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Director Robert Kennedy.
The cancellation comes in the wake of the aircraft being grounded worldwide following two fatal crashes.
"While we are disappointed in the news, the recent service from Icelandair and WOW Air has shown the strength and demand from Cleveland and the Northern Ohio regional market to Europe," Kennedy said in a statement.
The UK, Oman, Singapore, Australia, Ireland and France and Norwegian Airlines suspended the whole Boeing 737 MAX range.
Icelandair released the following statement:
"We are reviewing our schedule for summer 2019, focusing on our route performances and keeping in mind that our MAX737 are temporarily suspended from operations. We enjoyed working with our partners in Cleveland but we can confirm we are cancelling the route for commercial reasons.
We are still committed to growing our services, with a current network of 19 gateways in the North American market and 23 gateways in Europe, from our home base in Keflavík."
Earlier in March, President Donald Trump announced the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 planes.
US pilots who fly the Boeing 737 Max have registered complaints about the way the jet has performed in flight, according to a federal database.
