A Europe-wide aviation agency has suspended the use of two Boeing 737 MAX models.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has said the 737-8 MAX and 737-9 MAX are suspended from European airspace from 7.00pm Irish time on Tuesday.
The EASA covers 28 European Union member states - as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
It follows a similar directive by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), which suspended "all variants" of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into and out of Irish airspace earlier.
It said this was in light of two fatal accidents involving the aircraft in recent months.
IAA Statement – Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft – Temporary suspension of operations.
Read the full statement on our website at https://t.co/AVgxICCToA pic.twitter.com/mSeGBf8XMH— IAA (@IAApress) March 12, 2019
Some 157 people died when the plane a Boeing 737 MAX 8 belonging Ethiopian Airlines went down shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa on Sunday.
Irish man Micheál Ryan, who was working with the United Nations World Food Programme, was among those killed.
That crash came just months after another accident involving the same aircraft model in Indonesia.
A Lion Air flight crashed shortly after take-off from Jakarta in October, killing all 189 people on board.
In a statement, the EASA said: "Following the tragic accident of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 involving a Boeing 737 MAX 8, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is taking every step necessary to ensure the safety of passengers."
It added that "as a precautionary measure" it was suspending all flight operations of all Boeing Model 737-8 MAX and 737-9 MAX planes in Europe.
#EASA suspends all Boeing 737 Max operations in Europehttps://t.co/vD6MYQlJWB
— EASA (@EASA) March 12, 2019
All commercial flights from third-country operators into, within or out of the EU, using those models are also suspended.
EASA added that it has offered their assistance in supporting the accident investigation into the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
Passengers rights
The Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) is advising those affected by the Boeing ban to be aware of their entitlements.
In the event of a flight being cancelled, an air carrier must offer customers a choice of re-routing as soon as possible, re-routing at a later date at their convenience or a refund.
If a passenger chooses the re-routing option, an air carrier must provide a customer with care and assistance while they wait for the alternative flight.
Care and assistance means meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time, hotel accommodation where an overnight stay becomes necessary, transport between the hotel accommodation and the airport and two free phone calls or access to e-mail.
If a flight is subject to a long delay of more than two hours, an air carrier must provide the care and assistance described above.
But if a flight is delayed by more than five hours, it must offer people the choice between continuing with their journey or a refund of the cost of their ticket.
If an air carrier does not provide the care and assistance, passengers are advised make their own reasonable arrangements and retain all receipts in the process.
They can then submit copies of these receipts to the carrier for reimbursement.
However the CAR has also said that as this disruption is because of an Airworthiness Directive from the IAA, it is an extraordinary circumstance and "compensation may not be payable."
