(Corrects “cancels” to “plans to postpone” in the first paragraph after AZAL changed its comment. Removes quote)

MOSCOW, June 3 (Reuters) – Azerbaijan airline AZAL plans to postpone a $1 billion contract with Boeing to purchase 10 737 MAX jets, a spokesman said on Monday, following fatal crashes involving the aircraft in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

Boeing’s top-selling aircraft, the 737 MAX, has been grounded worldwide since the March 10 disaster, which killed 157 people and came just five months after a Lion Air crash in Indonesia that killed 189 in a plane of the same model.

Many countries barred 737 Max jets from taking off or landing at local airports.

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; writing by Margarita Antidze)