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.
"We're the first international carrier to fly to Chandigarh, so that means there is a little more co-ordination needed. Flydubai is excited about operating the first international flight to Chandigarh and we are working closely with the authorities to make this historic event a success," said Ghaith.
"We are in touch with administration and are hopeful of celebrating the historic moment as per schedule," said Dutt.
Chandigarh is one of the three Indian destinations that flydubai announced last month, with Coimbatore and Lucknow being the other two.
The airline, launched on June 1, flies to Alexandria, Amman, Beirut and Damascus, and is set to soon start operations to Aleppo and Lucknow (on Monday), and Coimbatore (on Tuesday).
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