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Lion Air (JT, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) has threatened to cancel its outstanding order for 188 Boeing B737 MAX Family aircraft over what the Indonesian LCC said was unfair treatment in the wake of October 29 crash near Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta, Bloomberg has reported.

"I feel betrayed. I'm preparing documents to propose cancellations. Everything is still under consideration now," co-founder Rusdi Kirana said.

Kirana did not disclose why exactly he felt Lion Air was mistreated by the American manufacturer. After the crash in October, the first ever hull loss of a B737-8, it surfaced that Boeing did not inform its customers nor included information about the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) in its manuals, a system devised to assist in keeping the aircraft stable but which can also confuse pilots and cause unprompted pitch variations.

The crash also put in doubt safety oversight procedures at Lion Air.

"Ethically, nobody should give their opinion to the preliminary report. I'm one of their biggest buyers. Right now we are in a difficult situation. As a partner,...

AZAL Azerbaijan Airlines (J2, Baku) has reiterated its opposition to the accession of Azerbaijan to the EU Open Skies zone, which would fully liberalise the air traffic rights between the Caucasian country and the EU.

"AZAL fears the consequences of signing the Open Skies Agreement with Europe. I officially declare that there are no restrictions on flights to Azerbaijan for any airline. I will say more foreign carriers are even provided with extended commercial rights of freedom of the air," President Jahangir Asgarov said during the meeting with KPMG, a consultancy dealing with the Open Skies adoption.

Asgarov further added that Azerbaijan currently pursues a liberal policy wherein foreign carriers are quickly granted necessary traffic rights, including the fifth freedom rights via Baku and cabotage rights (eighth freedom) within Azerbaijan.

Once the EU Open Skies agreement is signed, EU-based carriers would not need to apply for traffic rights to Azerbaijan and could launch flights to the country at a much shorter notice. The treaty would not, however, regulate fifth or eighth freedom operations.