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AVIATION -AIR EQUATOR |
Sri Lankan aviation ministry cancels Air Equator‘s AOC
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BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
15th August 2005: In a major set off to Air Equator Private Ltd, the Civil Aviation
Ministry of Sri Lanka has cancelled its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) and
declared the company invalidated its aviation license.
Air Equator, which was using a Fairchild Fokker F-27 aircraft belonging to a Sri
Lankan company under a dry lease agreement, was reportedly "not abiding to the
terms of lease agreement".
Civil Aviation Director General Mahmood Razi said in a press release that the
certificate was cancelled as the owner of the aircraft failed to follow the finance
agreement signed between the ministry and the company.
Even though, the carrier had assured to commence operations with another
aircraft, the civil aviation ministry decided to withdraw the certificate given in
March, citing failure to comply with existing rules.
Air Equators scheduled flights ceased on March as no efforts were made by them
to restart their scheduled flights.
Air Equator, a subsidiary of the SPA Group of companies in Sri Lanka, had started
operations in 2004 to cater to the domestic air travel services in Maldives. The
services were started jointly with state-owned carrier Air Maldives.
Air Equator was flying its leased 44 seat Fairchild F27 Twin Turbo Prop aircraft on
scheduled flights to Male and Hanimadhoo from its base in the Gan Island.
The company had also planned to operate international flights to Chennai, Trichi,
Thiruvananthapuram and Colombo for passengers and cargo.
Around 80 per cent of the airline’s staff are Indian nationals, while the remaining
20 per cent are Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The carrier employs pilots from the
UK, Myanmar and Germany.
BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
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