AirAsia QZ8501 flight schedule needed approval from both S'pore, Indonesia

This article is more than 12 months old

Jan 03, 2015 06:30 pm

In light of the news that Indonesia did not approve the AirAsia QZ8501 flight schedule, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Changi Airport Group released a joint press release on Saturday.

It clarified that an airline needs to obtain approval "from the respective civil aviation authorities at each end of its flight routing separately", before launching a service between two points.

The joint press release stated:

On the Singapore end, Indonesia AirAsia had applied to operate a daily flight between Surabaya and Singapore for the Northern Winter Season from 26 October 2014 to 28 March 2015, arriving at Changi Airport at 8.30am and departing for Surabaya at 2.10pm.

These daily flights were approved as there were available air traffic rights under the bilateral ASA and the slots at Changi Airport were available. Indonesia AirAsia was operating the flight four times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Airlines may adjust their flight frequencies in the course of a season in response to market demand or operational requirements.

Early Saturday (Jan 3), Indonesia’s transport ministry said the airline "violated the route permit given" .

Indonesia’s transport ministry spokesman J.A. Barata had said that AirAsia was not permitted to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route on Sundays and had not asked to change its schedule.