‘Did not audit airline’: UN aviation agency ICAO rebuts SpiceJet claim

NEW DELHI: The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on Tuesday said that a team that visited India between November 9 and November 16 made industry visits to verify the effectiveness of the country’s civil aviation authority’s safety oversight, but stressed that it did not audit any airline.

The statement comes against the backdrop of a claim by low-cost carrier SpiceJet on December 5 that claimed a visit to its head office by a visiting ICAO team as an ‘exhaustive audit’.

In its statement last week, the airline said: “SpiceJet operations, safety processes and systems have been found to be in order following an exhaustive audit conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The comprehensive audit by ICAO firmly establishes SpiceJet’s credentials.”