02:42

The airplane model of the Lion Air flight which crashed today had only been in service globally for 18 months and boasted of being the “world’s most reliable airplane”.

The 737 MAX 8 model was first operated for a commercial flight in May 2017 by Malindo Air but has since been adopted by airlines around the world

The plane is a variant of the Boeing 737 Max series, which is the fastest selling airplane in Boeing history. Worth upwards of £70m apiece, the Max 8 version has an air range of 6,570 km, a passenger capacity of up to 210 passengers and boasted of reducing carbon emissions by 20%, as well as reducing cabin noise by 40%.

The planes are built at Boeing’s factory in Renton, Washington in the US.

It is a popular model which has been purchased by airlines across the world, including American Airlines, United Airlines, Ryanair, Jet Airlines, FlyDubai, Norwegian Air, Iceland Air, SilkAir, Turkish Airlines, Korean Air, Air Canada and Malaysia Airlines among many others.

Back in 2012, Lion Air were among the first to finalise a a $22.4bn order with Boeing which included 201 of the 737 MAX airplanes. But as of April this year, only eight of the planes had been delivered to Lion Air.

According to company reports, the Boeing 737 MAX had received 4,783 firm orders from over 100 countries as of September.

The crash in Indonesia is the first incident involving the 737 Max model. In a statement released after the Indonesia crash, Boeing said the company “stands ready to provide technical assistance to the accident investigation.”