Saudi airline flyadeal picks Airbus jets over grounded Boeing MAX

Saudi Arabia's flyadeal will not proceed with a provisional order for 30 Boeing 737 MAX jets, the U.S. planemaker said on Sunday after the airline announced it would operate an all Airbus A320 fleet.

Flyadeal began reconsidering a commitment to order the Boeing jets after two MAX aircraft crashed in Ethiopia in March and Indonesia last October.

"We understand that flyadeal will not finalize its commitment to the 737 MAX at this time given the airline’s schedule requirements," a Boeing spokesperson said.

The provisional order, which included additional purchasing options for 20 MAX jets, was worth $5.9 billion at list prices.

The budget airline will take delivery from 2021 of 30 Airbus A320neo aircraft ordered by its parent, state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines, at the Paris Air Show in June, it said in its statement.

"This order will result in flyadeal operating an all- Airbus A320 fleet in the future," it added.

The two 737 MAX crashes killed a total of 346 people, triggered the global grounding of the aircraft and wiped billions off Boeing's market value. Regulators must approve changes and new pilot training before the jets can fly again.