Indian government has been conveyed by the Malaysian budget airline AirAsia that the CFO and COO for its Indian arm are both going to be Indians and it has submitted the names of its six directors for obtaining security clearance from the home ministry. A security clearance for the board of directors is a prerequisite for AirAsia India to receive a no-objection certificate (NoC) from the aviation ministry to launch operations.    

The security clearance could take anywhere between a month to three or more months. AirAsia India appointed an Indian CEO, Mittu Chandilya, to head AirAsia India on May 15 but the names of the CFO and the COO have not been decided yet. Aviation Ministry sources said that the airline has conveyed that the CFO and the COO are going to be Indians. But board-of-directors names need security clearance irrespective of nationality. Aviation Ministry has to submit this list to home ministry, the sources said.    

Post the security go-ahead, AirAsia India would require a raft of clearances from the government, including a flying licence or what is called in industry parlance an 'air operating permit'. It also needs basic infrastructure at airports, including parking bays, landing slots etc but only after getting a no-objection certificate (NoC) from the aviation department.