Boeing 737 MAX 8; Author: Acefitt, License: CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons

Brussels (People's Daily) - After more than 20 hours of waiting anxiously at Bulgaria’s Sofia Airport, passengers en route to Amsterdam, the Netherlands continued to their final destination but on another plane, Soifa News Agency reported on March 13.

On Tuesday, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended flight operations for all Boeing 737-8 MAX and 737-9 MAX in Europe.

The move follows action earlier by the United Kingdom, France, Germany and at least 10 other countries to break with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and ground the US-made Boeing jet involved in two crashes that have killed over 300 people.

In line with the EASA suspension, Bulgaria’s Civil Aviation Administration banned all commercial flight operations of Boeing 737-8 MAX and 737-9 МАХ aircraft in its airspace until further notice later that same day.

According to an official statement, the ban went into effect on March 12 at 9 pm.

The passengers stranded at Sofia Airport were on a Boeing 737 Max that was ordered to land once the ban was issued.  

Airlines in countries across the globe including China, the US, Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico, Australia, Singapore, South Korea and Norway have also grounded all of the Max 8 jets in their fleets.