The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) may have given approval to Saudia (Saudi Arabian Airlines) to operate Boeing 777-200 and the Airbus 330-300 under Code E owing to political pressure. But the three-page order of the Director of Operations (Aero Standards), D.C. Sharma, addressed to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman, Guruprasad Mohapatra, reveals there is more to it than meets the eye.
The order states that the airline company and the Calicut airport had been issued No Objection Certificate (NOC) based on the adequacy of safety assessment and mitigation measures to ensure safety of Code E aircraft operations by the airport operator.
Also, it has stated that the NOC did not cast any liability, financially or otherwise, to the aviation watchdog. Besides, the green signal given to Saudia would be reviewed after three years. Further, the onus of aircraft removal plan has been jointly put on the airline and Calicut airport authorities in case of any incidents such as tire burst, aircraft running off the runway or taxiway.
Earlier, the DGCA had pointed out that the runway strip of Calicut airport was only 75 metres on both sides as against the mandatory 150 metres stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
“The NOC was given basically due to political pressure since the airport did not actually confirm to the standards of the ICAO to operate wide-bodied aircraft,” he said.
Already Saudia, which submitted the safety assessment and mitigation plan reports to the DGCA, has proceeded to go ahead with the operation of both types of aircraft under Code E. The airline company has active and stored aircraft of Boeing 777- 200 and Airbus 330-300 for its operations, sources said.
Air India has completed the compatibility study and safety assessment of wide- bodied aircraft at Calicut airport. However, Dubai-based Emirates is yet to respond to the suggestion of the DGCA to conduct the study. The fleet of the airline company mostly consists of Boeing 777-300 ER, Boeing 777-200 LR and Airbus A380- 800.
