AirAsia reportedly did not have official permission to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route on the day an Airbus A320 crashed, but was licensed to fly on four other days of the week.
The airline was only permitted to fly the Surabaya to Singapore route on four days of the week, not including Sunday, December 28 when the accident occured, Indonesia’s transport ministry was reported by Bloomberg as saying.
However, a statement from the civil aviation authority in Singapore said that on the Singaporean end, AirAsia did have permission to operate the Surabaya-Singapore flight daily.
The Indonesian authorities suspended the carrier’s service on the route pending an investigation.
AirAsia – which previously had an excellent safety record with no fatal accidents involving its aircraft – said it would “fully cooperate”.
There were 137 adult passengers, 17 children and one infant, along with two pilots and five crew, on the aircraft – the majority Indonesian.
AirAsia Indonesia chief executive Sunu Widyatmoko confirmed the suspension of the route licence and said the carrier will co-operate with an investigation, according to comments made at a press conference broadcast on local television on Saturday, Bloomberg reported.
The company will not issue a statement until the results of the government review are announced, he said.