Indonesia AirAsia Extra inaugural Melbourne flight delayed indefinitely by Australia

[FortuneFaded]

Indonesia AirAsia Extra inaugural Melbourne flight delayed indefinitely by Australian regulator

Long haul affiliate of Indonesia AirAsia cancels its first flight from Bali to Melbourne after failing to secure approval from Australia's Civil Aviation Authority

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 22 January, 2015, 11:14am
UPDATED : Thursday, 22 January, 2015, 11:14am

Reuters in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur

A passenger stands in front of an AirAsia check-in machine at Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Long-haul budget carrier Indonesia AirAsia Extra has delayed indefinitely the launch of its inaugural flight between Bali and Melbourne after failing to get the approval of Australian regulators, airline and airport officials said on Wednesday.

Approvals were not forthcoming partly due to Australian concerns about Indonesia’s aviation safety record, especially after an Airbus plane operated by sister airline Indonesia AirAsia crashed last month, said a source familiar with the situation.

Indonesia AirAsia Extra, an affiliate of Malaysian long-haul budget airline AirAsia X Bhd, started selling tickets for flights between Denpasar, the capital of Bali, and Melbourne on October 28.

Director of AirAsia Tony Fernandez speaks at a press conference in Surabaya in December. Photo: AFP

But the airline said on Tuesday that an “unforeseen delay in acquiring confirmation from a third party organisation” had led to a delay.

Indonesia AirAsia X (as Indonesia AirAsia Extra is also known) is working with Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to complete the “administration process” as soon as possible, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

APPROVAL PENDING

Farid Indra Nugraha, corporate secretary of Indonesian airport operator Angkasa Pura I, told reporters on Wednesday that: “AirAsia X didn’t get approval from the Australian government”.

CASA said it was still in the process of assessing the company’s application for permission to fly out of Melbourne.

“CASA still needs to complete its assessment of safety and regulatory information relevant to that application and cannot make a decision about the matter until we have done so,” it said in an emailed statement. A spokesman declined to comment on any specific safety concerns.

Indonesian soldiers carry a coffin bearing the remains of 'body number 50' recovered by divers on Monday from the underwater crash site of AirAsia flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea. Photo: AFP

Indonesia’s patchy airline safety record has been in the spotlight since Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashed into the Java Sea on December 28, killing all 162 people on board.

In 2007 the European Commission banned all Indonesia-based airlines from flying to the European Union after a series of accidents. Exemptions to that ban have since been granted to some carriers, including PT Garuda Indonesia and Indonesia AirAsia.

However Indonesia AirAsia X, which was set up only last year, is on the EU banned list.

Indonesia’s transport minister on Tuesday proposed several changes to improve aviation safety standards in the country.