Japan’s airlines faced ‘delay tactics’ in India

Friction between Japan and India in the civil aviation sector had been growing over the past two months, with Tokyo banning Air India's brand new Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" aircraft and later also asking for a potential audit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The request by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) for the potential audit was seen as an over-step by the Indian authorities.

  
Now, according to industry sources, during this period of argument with Japanese authorities, the country's two major airlines operating into India, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) were subjected to "random checks" in India on a daily basis, which resulted in more than frequent delays of flights being operated by the two carriers. The sources revealed that these almost daily "tactics" were seen as a direct reaction to Japan's over-reaching moves against India's state carrier and the DGCA. Last week Japan lifted the ban on Air India's Dreamliner aircraft.

These reactions by Indian authorities may have prompted pressure on the Japanese administration by both ANA and JAL to sort out the differences between itself and their counterparts in New Delhi.
The initial ban on Air India's new Boeing 787 aircrafts from operating into Japan was due to the state carrier's failure to provide the Japanese authorities with certain paperwork. In January, both ANA and JAL had grounded their fleet of Boeing 787 aircraft, which was followed by a global grounding of the type. Last month, the Japanese barred Air India from operating the type into Japan after they claimed the airline did not submit the paperwork which showed that the modifications, which were suggested by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the US globally in April, had been made.
However, Japan's request to audit the DGCA rubbed the Indian authorities the wrong way. Prior to this, the DGCA had been audited by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the FAA. Both ICAO and the FAA had cleared the DGCA, enabling India to hold on to its highest level of safety certification.

According to reports, Civil Aviation Secretary K.N. Srivastava had also written to India's ambassador to Japan, Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, asking to take up the issue of the requested "safety talk," which is seen as the first step before an audit, at an "appropriate level" in the Japanese government.
The Boeing 787 is looked upon as an aircraft which may change the fortunes of the financial ailing Air India. The aircraft was late in entering the airline's fleet, first due to long manufacturing delays by Boeing, and then by Air India as the airline negotiated with the manufacturer on the delay compensation settlement.