AirAsia Didn’t Have Permission to Fly Deadly Route on Day of Crash

AirAsia didn’t have permission to fly from Surabaya to Singapore on the Sunday morning that Flight 8501 crashed into the Java Sea, Indonesian officials said Saturday.

Indonesia's transport ministry said the plane had been flying on an 'unauthorised schedule' when it crashed, and the airliner has now been suspended from flying the route from the city of Surabaya to Singapore.

Transport Ministry spokesman J.A. Barata said the airline was only permitted to fly the route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

“So AirAsia has committed a violation of the route that has been given to them,” Mr. Barata told The Wall Street Journal.