By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
AirAsia’s group chief has refuted a claim by the Indonesian transport minister that one of its planes that crashed off the coast of Borneo last month did not have a license to fly the route it was on.
"We have followed the schedule given to us. [AirAsia Indonesia] has rights to fly seven days a week," Tony Fernandes told The Anadolu Agency via text message.
"Take-off and landing rights are also given by both [Surabaya and Singapore] airports."
On Tuesday, Ignatius Jonan claimed Fernandes had admitted Flight QZ8501 was flying from Indonesia’s second city Surabaya to Singapore Dec. 28 without the correct permissions.
He added that AirAsia’s group chief had accepted the ministry's decision to freeze the route while expressing hope that AirAsia would be permitted to fly it after applying for a license once investigations have been finalized.
Five days after Flight QZ8501 went down with 162 people on board, all flights on the route were suspended pending an investigation.
On Monday, authorities at Surabaya's Juanda Airport said AirAsia had permission to fly the route on Sundays -- only to issue a revised statement less than 12 hours later.
According to the transport ministry, AirAsia Indonesia -- a subsidiary of which the AirAsia group owns 49 percent -- readjusted its Surabaya-Singapore route schedule to fly on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays without the required permission.
Questions have been raised about how allegedly unauthorized travel could have received clearance from air traffic controller every Sunday since the end of October 2014.
Amid the suspension, the ministry is set to conduct audits or evaluations of all airlines in Indonesia to determine any violations related to routes and schedules.
AirAsia has been dealt back-to-back blows with the Indonesian government’s decision to ban five of its key domestic and regional routes. Reports suggest the bans were announced as part of the government’s crackdown on the negligent administration of flight permits from Surabaya airport.
The AirAsia Indonesia flights affected include three domestic routes from Surabaya to the cities of Jakarta, Bali and Bandung.
On Monday, Kualanamu International Airport near North Sumatra’s provincial capital Medan announced a ban on AirAsia flights to South Sumatra’s Palembang on Tuesdays.
