Back in the mid-90s we decided to challenge CA$A by submitting a proposal for single-engined helicopter RPT from Parramatta Heliport to KSA. Hats hit the roof, with their staff falling off chairs, a mixture of astonishment and laughter.
The biggest hurdle was getting the Maintenance Control Manual approved - even Bell did not publish anything like an MEL for such a simple aircraft, they said "Make something up."
The original draft of the MCM, off my trusty 286 computer, went from 12 pages to a fourth edition of about 120 pages by the time it got through. And that was only because we paid the CA$A inspector to write it, so he could then approve it. There were multiple other hurdles thrown in our way, but finally we got the AOC after about 1 1/2 years.
CA$A moves in strange ways.