Flydubai denies standoff with India over flight

Dubai's low-cost carrier flydubai yesterday dismissed reports of a standoff with Indian authorities over landing permission for its soon-to-be-launched Dubai-Chandigarh service, maintaining that talks were still ongoing.
In a statement sent to Emirates Business, Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai, said: "Flydubai has been granted the rights to fly to Chandigarh based on the agreement between the governments of India and the UAE. The final few pieces of the operation are being worked out now and we do not anticipate any issues that cannot be resolved."
Indian newspapers reported on Sunday that the carrier's proposed Chadigarh service, scheduled for a July 23 launch, had run into trouble as the Indian Air Force (IAF), which controls the local airport in the city of Chandigarh, had refused permission to the airline's aircraft to land at the airport during night.
Flydubai's scheduled flight is supposed to reach the city around 11pm and take off 40 minutes later whereas the IAF does not allow civilian planes to land there after 10pm. The Chandigarh airport is apparently not geared to receive international traffic, with no immigration officials posted out there, said the Indian report, which quoted the airport's director Sunil Dutt saying that the airport would "now approach the authorities concerned again for the facilities necessary" to begin the first international flight from city.
06/07/09 Vicky Kapur/Emirates Business 24|7, UAE

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Categories: Airports Jul 2009, Foreign Jul 2009