AirAsia CEO Denies Accusation of Violating Agreed Flight Schedule

Jakarta (Antara) - AirAsia has the permit to operate on the Surabaya-Singapore route in accordance with the flight schedule agreed by Indonesian and Singaporean flight authorities, stated the airline's CEO Tony Fernandes. "We have the right to operate on the Surabaya-Singapore route seven times a week. What happened is an administrative problem. We appreciate the Indonesian Transportation Ministry's step of evaluating the coordination between the airport authority and flight slot authority to avoid misunderstandings in the future," Fernandes said here, Wednesday. Earlier, the Transportation Ministry's Acting Director General for Air Transportation Djoko Murdjatmojo noted that AirAsia has violated an agreed flight schedule from Surabaya (East Java province) to Singapore. "Based on our observation, AirAsia did not fly in accordance with the schedule agreed with the government," Djoko Murdjatmojo stated at a press conference. According to the Foreign Flight Permit Letter No AU/008/30/6/DRJU/DAU issued for the year of 2014/2015, AirAsia is authorized to operate flights on the Surabaya to Singapore route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. However, the ill-fated AirAsia flight QZ8501 flew on Sunday morning, he pointed out. He remarked that if AirAsia wanted to alter its flight schedule, it should have sent an official proposal to the Directorate General for Air Transportation. "We never received any official letter from AirAsia requesting a change in its flight schedule," he emphasized. In the meantime, as per an official statement from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) that was published on its website www.caas.gov.sg, AirAsia flight QZ8501 flying on Monday (Dec. 28) was legal. AirAsia flight QZ8501 disappeared on Dec. 28, en route from Surabaya in East Java to Singapore, with 162 people on board. They comprised 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, a British, a Singaporean, a French, and a Malaysian. The plane is believed to have crashed in the Java Sea near the Karimata Strait, some 95 nautical miles from Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan. (*)