New Delhi: The civil aviation regulator today turned down a demand by its Japanese counterpart for a safety audit, seeing in the move an excuse to prevent Air India from flying its Boeing 787 Dreamliners to the East Asian country.
Officials of the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) said there was no need for an audit as both the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had given their clearances.
The officials pointed out that the demand of the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) was intended to prevent Air India from flying its Dreamliners to Osaka as it clashed with the interests of its two main carriers — Japan Airlines and Al Nippon Airways — who are also using the Boeing 787s.
“We believe this is a stalling tactic as it is a matter of clash of interest as Air India wants to replace Boeing 777s with Dreamliners on its Delhi-Osaka route. We do not believe there is any need for the JCAB to conduct any sort of audit and would be asking the government to convey the same to Japan,” said a senior DGCA official.
If the JCAB was adamant about the audit, the matter would have to be handled at a diplomatic level, the official said.
18/09/13 Karan Choudhury/The Telegraph
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Officials of the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) said there was no need for an audit as both the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had given their clearances.
The officials pointed out that the demand of the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) was intended to prevent Air India from flying its Dreamliners to Osaka as it clashed with the interests of its two main carriers — Japan Airlines and Al Nippon Airways — who are also using the Boeing 787s.
“We believe this is a stalling tactic as it is a matter of clash of interest as Air India wants to replace Boeing 777s with Dreamliners on its Delhi-Osaka route. We do not believe there is any need for the JCAB to conduct any sort of audit and would be asking the government to convey the same to Japan,” said a senior DGCA official.
If the JCAB was adamant about the audit, the matter would have to be handled at a diplomatic level, the official said.
18/09/13 Karan Choudhury/The Telegraph
