AirAsia India Proving Flights: Day 2

AirAsia India's second proving flight left Chennai at 10:13 local time, which was 04:43 UTC. The aircraft was the airline's Airbus A320-216SL, registered VT-ATF. It was on its way from Chennai to Kolkata (IATA code CCU, ICAO code VECC).

Why Kolkata

Chennai to Kolkata was not necessarily a route the airline planned to sell. It was flown because Kolkata already had the ground support the airline needed, provided by AirAsia Bhd of Malaysia, which was already flying there.

The sectors flown

On the first day, 1 May 2014, the airline had flown three sectors: Chennai to Cochin, Cochin to Bangalore, and Bangalore to Chennai. The second day added two more pairs:

• Chennai to Kolkata and back
• Chennai to Bangalore and back

That took the total to seven proving flights across the two days. The Chennai to Bangalore pair was left out of the first version of the post and was added later with an apology.

What came next

The first day's flights had gone to the satisfaction of the DGCA, India's civil aviation regulator. Based on that, no further proving flights were expected to be needed.

Proving flights are the last step before an airline receives its Air Operator Permit, or AOP. After the flights, the decision rested with the DGCA. One open question was whether a Delhi High Court hearing would get in the way. The hearing was based on separate petitions filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and by the Federation of Indian Airlines, both opposing the airline's permit.

For more on how proving flights work and the expected timeline for AirAsia India, see the companion piece on the first day of proving flights, published on 1 May 2014.