The Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Ajit Singh, on Monday said the removal of Mr Bharat Bhushan from the post of DGCA was a “simple administrative decision”.
He, however, refused to say why he was removed soon after his tenure was extended till the end of the year. Mr Singh said that there was no political motive behind the decision.
Mr Singh said Kingfisher Airlines’ licence can be revoked only if it compromised on safety norms or it cut down its services to less than five flights a day.
Mr Singh was here to inspect the final system acceptance test of GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmentation Navigation). GAGAN is designed to provide accuracy, availability and integrity to flights. Around 50 per cent of the Rs 780-crore project is funded by the Union Government.
When this project is certified in 2013, the country will join the ranks of the US, Europe and Japan to have a satellite-based augmentation system, said Mr Singh.