China Eastern Airlines announced on Tuesday that it has already lodged a claim for compensation from US aerospace giant Boeing after grounding its fleet of 737 MAX planes in the wake of Ethiopian Airlines crash.

A total of 14 planes of 737 Max were grounded, including 11 from Shanghai Airlines, said a senior official with China Eastern Airlines at a press conference on Tuesday.

(File Photo: VCG)

In addition, the airlines had planned to purchase 60 planes from Boeing this year, including 11 737 Max.

But the impact is small as the grounding happened after the Spring Festival travel rush, the official said.

"The airlines' chairman of the board has communicated with Boeing several times. We have already made a request [for losses]. But the ultimate claim shall be decided by whether it’s the design defect or the operation problem that caused the crash and grounding ensued," the official said, according to the paper.cn.

Airlines around the world announced grounding their fleets of 737 MAX following the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board.

The crash happened just five months after a similar crash on Lion Air in Indonesia that killed all 189 passengers and crew.

A few airlines have already lodged claims for losses from grounding. Norwegian Air was the first one publicly seeking compensation from Boeing for costs and losses after grounding its fleet of eight 737 MAX aircrafts following the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

"We expect Boeing to take this bill," Norwegian Air said in an emailed statement.

Boeing’s orders and deliveries sank in the first quarter, with no new orders for the 737 MAX in March, which had been its best-selling aircraft in almost seven years, according to South China Morning Post.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg made an apology last week for the two fatal crashes. He acknowledged that the preliminary reports into both crashes found the plane's automated system had acted in error, and said that Boeing was working on a fix that means similar accidents will "never happen again," according to Business Insider.

More families of victims of the Lion Air crash are suing Boeing, AP reported.

Citing estimates by Cowen aerospace analyst Cai von Rumohr, CNN reported that Boeing may face compensation claims of more $2 billion, and the price goes up every day the planes aren't flying.

(Compiled by Huang Jingjing)