AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes says the company has been given approval to fly Sunday, disputing a claim by Indonesia's transport authorities. – Reuters pic, January 7, 2015.
AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes has denied admitting that the airline had no permit to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route, as reported by Indonesian media quoting the country's transport minister."We have the right to fly Surabaya-Singapore. We had flown that schedule and had rights for 7 days a week," Fernandes was quoted by Singapore's The Straits Times in a statement.He said the company had received approval from both Indonesia and Singapore."What happened was purely an administrative error," the statement added.Indonesia's Transport Minister Ignasius Jonas had reportedly said that Fernandes admitted to him that AirAsia had flouted the rules by flying without permit.On January 2, Indonesian transport authorities suspended AirAsia's flight permit for the Surabaya-Singapore route, saying it violated procedures by flying on a Sunday. It was claimed that AirAsia's license only allowed flights on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.It comes after the December 28 crash of flight QZ8501 into the Java Sea, less than half an hour after take-off carrying 162 passengers. Search efforts are still underway to locate bodies.It was reported that several aviation officials have also been suspended for allowing flight QZ8501 to take off on a Sunday.Authorities are currently carrying out an audit of all airlines serving Indonesia, a move welcomed by Fernandes, who suggested a computerised system."The process has become clear now. I also recommend what is being implemented in Singapore; an intergrated computerised system so that everyone is on the same page," the Singapore daily quoted him in the statement. – January 7, 2015.
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