rodondo4
8th Feb 2005, 07:54
A case of protecting local interest in LCC's???
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/2/8/business/10114542&sec=business
AWAIR to seek redress over cancelled Jakarta-S’pore flight
BY SIDEK KAMISO
AIRASIA Bhd's associate Indonesian company, AWAIR, will seek legal redress, including monetary compensation, from the Singapore government for blocking the airline from flying to the island state from Jakarta.
“Our legal team is looking at the issue. We have suffered undue financial loss because of this, and should be compensated,” AirAsia executive director Kamaruddin Meranum told StarBiz when asked to comment on the status of the company's plan to fly to Singapore.
AWAIR, which is 49%-owned by AirAsia was to start the Singapore-Jakarta flight on Jan 19, but the flight was cancelled at the eleventh hour. The Singapore government had requested the airline to provide an additional document, although it had earlier been given approval to start flights.
The airline complied and the Singapore authorities promised to respond within a week. However, the airline has not received any formal reply after three weeks.
Although AWAIR had now aborted its plan to fly to Singapore, it wants to know why the Singapore government had delayed granting the green light.
“Our staff has been in contact with the Singapore government, but to no avail,” Kamaruddin said from Paris.
He added that the plane allocated for the flight had now been re-routed to Padang.
Kamaruddin Meranum
Kamaruddin said the company's lawyers had looked at various aspects of the events that led to the flight being cancelled, and ways to seek compensation from the Singapore government.
It is understood that the more than 5,000 passengers booked on the aborted inaugural flight were either put on other flights or given reimbursements.
Kamaruddin said AWAIR did not understand why Singapore had taken so long to come up with a decision, even though the document had been submitted.
What was puzzling was that AWAIR had submitted similar documentation for sister company Thai Air Asia's flights between Bangkok and Singapore.
“This is clearly a case of protectionism by the Singapore government,” Kamaruddin said, adding that it should not have happened because there were fewer flights operated by any Indonesian airline to Singapore than the number of flights by Singapore-based airlines to Indonesia.
“We are merely asking for our rights,” he said, adding that that there were still unused slots for airlines for flights between Indonesia and Singapore.
He said allowing AWAIR to fly to Singapore would be good for the air travel industry in the two countries.
AWAIR had also sought assistance from the Indonesian government as it viewed the delay by the Singapore government in granting it permission to start flights from Jakarta to Singapore as a contravention of the spirit of free enterprise and of Asean neighbourliness.
The current episode is also not the first time AirAsia had experienced differential treatment by the Singaporean government since starting its budget airline operation. Two years ago, AirAsia was denied a permit to start a bus service from its Senai Hub to Singapore.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/2/8/business/10114542&sec=business
AWAIR to seek redress over cancelled Jakarta-S’pore flight
BY SIDEK KAMISO
AIRASIA Bhd's associate Indonesian company, AWAIR, will seek legal redress, including monetary compensation, from the Singapore government for blocking the airline from flying to the island state from Jakarta.
“Our legal team is looking at the issue. We have suffered undue financial loss because of this, and should be compensated,” AirAsia executive director Kamaruddin Meranum told StarBiz when asked to comment on the status of the company's plan to fly to Singapore.
AWAIR, which is 49%-owned by AirAsia was to start the Singapore-Jakarta flight on Jan 19, but the flight was cancelled at the eleventh hour. The Singapore government had requested the airline to provide an additional document, although it had earlier been given approval to start flights.
The airline complied and the Singapore authorities promised to respond within a week. However, the airline has not received any formal reply after three weeks.
Although AWAIR had now aborted its plan to fly to Singapore, it wants to know why the Singapore government had delayed granting the green light.
“Our staff has been in contact with the Singapore government, but to no avail,” Kamaruddin said from Paris.
He added that the plane allocated for the flight had now been re-routed to Padang.
Kamaruddin Meranum
Kamaruddin said the company's lawyers had looked at various aspects of the events that led to the flight being cancelled, and ways to seek compensation from the Singapore government.
It is understood that the more than 5,000 passengers booked on the aborted inaugural flight were either put on other flights or given reimbursements.
Kamaruddin said AWAIR did not understand why Singapore had taken so long to come up with a decision, even though the document had been submitted.
What was puzzling was that AWAIR had submitted similar documentation for sister company Thai Air Asia's flights between Bangkok and Singapore.
“This is clearly a case of protectionism by the Singapore government,” Kamaruddin said, adding that it should not have happened because there were fewer flights operated by any Indonesian airline to Singapore than the number of flights by Singapore-based airlines to Indonesia.
“We are merely asking for our rights,” he said, adding that that there were still unused slots for airlines for flights between Indonesia and Singapore.
He said allowing AWAIR to fly to Singapore would be good for the air travel industry in the two countries.
AWAIR had also sought assistance from the Indonesian government as it viewed the delay by the Singapore government in granting it permission to start flights from Jakarta to Singapore as a contravention of the spirit of free enterprise and of Asean neighbourliness.
The current episode is also not the first time AirAsia had experienced differential treatment by the Singaporean government since starting its budget airline operation. Two years ago, AirAsia was denied a permit to start a bus service from its Senai Hub to Singapore.