Jakarta, Jan 3 (IANS): Indonesia's transport ministry Saturday froze AirAsia's Surabaya-Singapore flight route permit effective Jan 2 until the investigation into flight QZ8501's crash is completed.
The ministry said that AirAsia had violated the Foreign Flight Permit released for the year 2014-2015, Indonesia's Antara news agency reported.
The permit states that AirAsia was only allowed to fly from Surabaya to Singapore Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, whereas the ill-fated AirAsia flight QZ8501 flew on a Sunday morning.
Passengers, who have booked tickets on AirAsia on the Surabaya-Singapore route and vice versa, are going to be referred to another airline.
Flight QZ8501 crashed Dec 28 with 162 passengers and crew on board while flying from Surabaya to Singapore.