CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: All-business carrier Paramount Airways today said it had received final approval from DGCA to resume operations but the aviation regulator maintained it was still evaluating its request as per the laid down norms.
In a statement issued in Chennai, the airline said "Paramount Airways, the only all Business class airline in the country, received the final approval from the DGCA to resume operations.
"Earlier the airline had received an approval from the (Civil Aviation) Ministry for import of 14 aircraft including (Airbus) A-320s and (Bombardier) Q-400s."
When contacted, a senior officer of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said "as per the directive of the Civil Aviation Ministry, we are evaluating their request vis-a-vis CARs (Civil Aviation Requirements)".
The DGCA had last year suspended the Chennai-based carrier's scheduled permit as rules require that an airline should have a minimum of five planes to get that status.
The permit was suspended last March after three of its Embraer E-175s, leased from GE Capital Aviation Services, were de-registered due to its alleged inability to meet payments. ECC Leasing, which owned the two other planes -- E-170s, also sought their deregistration on the same grounds.
The disputes were taken to courts in India and the UK, with the airline denying the charges levelled against it by the aircraft leasing companies.
Top Paramount officials have consistently maintained that the airline was in the process of acquiring six aircraft in the near future to resume operations
Received final approval from DGCA to resume operations: Paramount - The Economic Times