Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is continuing investigations into safety concerns at grounded Tiger Airways Australia, following the first formal meeting with the airline yesterday.
No outcome resulted from the 2½h meeting yesterday, said a CASA spokesman. "It was an opportunity for Tiger to provide information to us and for us to ask questions. We continue to work through the issues," he added, saying that the discussions took place in a "professional" manner.
The regulator grounded the Australian arm of the Singaporean low-cost carrier on 2 July, citing safety reasons. The airline is being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau for two incidents in June involving its Airbus A320s descending below minimum safe altitude.
Investigations into the incidents are continuing, said the CASA spokesman.
Tiger's domestic Australian flights are grounded until 9 July, but CASA can apply to the Federal Court for an extension of the grounding if necessary. A decision on that will have to be made before the close of business on 8 July, said the CASA spokesman.
"The grounding continues until the court makes a decision," he added. The regulator, however, is not likely to make a decision on the application today, he said.
Tiger said it will continue to work with CASA "on a constructive basis" to resolve the regulator's safety concerns. "Our goal is to resume our services as quickly as possible whilst restoring the confidence of both CASA and the Australian public at large that safety underpins our operations at all times," it added.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
