Govt seeks details of top AirAsia execs for issuing Noc

The civil aviation ministry has asked AirAsia India to provide names and the nationalities of top executives before its application for granting a no-objection certificate (NOC) can be processed.

The civil aviation ministry has asked AirAsia India to provide names and the nationalities of top executives before its application for granting a no-objection certificate (NOC) can be processed.

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The ministry has asked for names and nationalities of the airlines' chairman, chief executive officer, chief financial officer and chief technical officer, sources said.

These details, sources said, would be sent to the home ministry for a security clearance, in case the executives are foreign nationals. After this clearance, the aviation ministry will take a decision on the airline's application.

“They (Air Asia) have just submitted the application. The ministry is looking at it. When all the data is there... the ministry is very active. If we get all the required data it should be cleared very soon,” aviation minister Ajit Singh said on Friday.

AirAsia India is a 49:30:21 joint venture between AirAsia, Tata Sons and Arun Bhatia, a close relative of steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. The proposed joint venture has received approval from the finance ministry and has already begun hiring cockpit and cabin crew for its Indian operations.