After much delay, low-cost carrier AirAsia (India) is expected to get final approval for starting commercial operations next week, a senior company official told FE. Aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), will issue an air operator’s permit (AOP) to the airline after its officials conduct the last level of checks, a ‘proving flight’, by Monday.
“The DGCA formalities are not complete yet. They should be done by Monday. They have to do a proving flight and we are waiting for their schedule to be given to us. Everything is in place at our end, but we have not decided when to start,” the AirAsia official said. The new airline, which took delivery of its first aircraft (A320) last month, will add more planes to its fleet only after the AOP is granted, the official said.
Though the Foreign Investment Promotion Board had given its approval for AirAsia’s investment in April last year, and the civil aviation ministry gave a ‘no-objection certificate’ to the airline in September 2013, AirAsia (India) has been awaiting the final step, an AOP from the DGCA, for the last six months. Initially, the airline had aimed at starting commercial operations by January-March, 2014, but industry experts say that scheduled operations may only start by May now.
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