Denies Allegations Of Lower Maintenance Costs, China Eastern Instead Says Up 12 Percent

China Eastern's maintenance costs rose 12 percent. (photo; doc. between_

JAKARTA - The Chinese Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 plane was being investigated a few days ago. One of them discusses the issue of the condition of the aircraft that triggered and caused the accident.

On Friday, March 25, China Eastern Airlines had denied rumors that it was cutting aircraft maintenance costs by 10 billion yuan (approximately Rp. 22.5 trillion) throughout 2021.

The funding cuts have been linked to the crash of his plane in Guangxi this week that killed 132 people. At a press conference in Nanning, Guangxi, the airline denied the rumors.

"To ensure safety, maintenance costs have been increased, although the flight frequency is less due to COVID-19," China Eastern said in a statement quoted by local media.

Even compared to 2019, maintenance costs in 2021 were up 12 percent, the China Daily quoted China Eastern as saying.

"Since China Eastern is listed on the stock exchange, please check the open and transparent data," said the airline, which is headquartered in Shanghai, as quoted by Antara.

China's biggest air crash in 12 years is also thought to have been caused by damage to the pickle fork, the component that holds the fuselage and wings together.

But China Eastern said there were no problems with the component so repairs were not needed. Moreover, it is repaired independently as it has been rumored so far.

Meanwhile, an aerospace expert from Beihang University, Prof Huang Jun, suspects that the pilot of the ill-fated plane lost control.

"One of the reasons for the sudden crash of the plane could be due to a sudden malfunction of the flight control system," he was quoted as saying by the Global Times.

Due to a malfunction in the control system, according to Jun, the plane with flight number MU-5735 lost lift.

The crash of the plane from a height of nearly 9,000 meters on a flight from Kunming, Yunnan Province, to Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, still leaves a mystery to this day.

The plane crashed vertically before exploding and bursting into flames as it hit the hills in Tengxiang County, Guangxi. The rescue team managed to find one of the plane's two black boxes.

As a result of the accident, the value of China Eastern's shares in the Shanghai stock exchange has continued to decline since the fateful incident. Until stock trading closed on Friday, March 25, the airline's share price reached 4.90 yuan (Rp11,050.57), down 5.41 percent.