Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand is considering revoking the aviation business licences of 4 small airlines found to have racked up exorbitant debts. The airlines are City Airways, Kan Airlines, Asian Air and Jet Asia Airways. CAAT director Chula Sukmanop said the 4 carriers were found to have serious liquidity problems and transport minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith has instructed the CAAT to keep tabs on their operations, particularly their safety standards. The CAAT is considering whether to revoke their air operating licences, Chula said. Efforts will also be made to adjust the criteria to award AOLs and Air Operator Certificates to carriers, he noted. Chula said he instructed all the airlines to submit their financial statements by the end of next month. Some carriers have already submitted them. <br/>
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EASA has granted a single air safety authorisation to Russian charter carrier Azur Air, which starts its first scheduled flights to Europe this summer. The third-country operator (TCO) certificate allows to non-EU carriers to operate flights to 28 EU countries as well as Norway, Switzerland, Ireland and Lichtenstein. Azur Air plans to launch 3X-weekly Krasnodar-Barcelona and Rostov on Don-Barcelona flights, as well as weekly Moscow-Bangkok service in the IATA 2016 summer season. The airline was created from former UTair Airline subsidiary Katekavia that was sold in 2015. Its fleet comprises 14 aircraft, comprising 9 Boeing 757-200s and 5 767-300s. In 2015, Azur Air carried 2.4m passengers on 9,500 flights. <br/>
Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) will create a new LCC subsidiary, AZALJET. The new carrier is expected to give the airline another option in competing with LCCs that serve, or will serve, the small Central Asian nation. AZAL said it had trialled low-cost services on some of its routes from August 2015 and decided to set up a distinct low-cost brand, with services due to start March 28. AZALJET will charge for baggage and on-board meals, while the parent airline will continue to operate as a full-service airline. Earlier this month, AZAL said negotiations were underway with aviation authorities of Turkey, the UAE, Israel and other nations over the launch of new services. AZAL operates a mixed fleet of Airbus, Boeing and Embraer types. No details were given of which aircraft would transferred to the new LCC brand. <br/>