Saudi Arabia unlikely to allow Boeing 737 Max in its airspace anytime soon

Saudi Arabia's transport minister said on Monday there were no immediate plans to allow Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to operate in the kingdom. Boeing's top-selling MAX jet was grounded around the world last month after two fatal crashes involving the model in five months.

Boeing has come under intense scrutiny since the Ethiopian Airline crash, the second in five months involving its new 737 MAX 8 model. The MAX software is among the leading areas of focus for investigations into the two crashes -- in Ethiopia this month and in Indonesia last year -- in which 346 lives were lost.

"There were no 737 max flying in the kingdom at the time and there aren't plans for them to be back in the near future," Minister Nabeel al-Amudi told reporters at an aviation conference in Riyadh.