Aviation safety regulator DGCA on Saturday imposed a penalty of Rs 20 lakh on Tata Group-owned budget carrier AirAsia India for violation of certain norms relating to pilots’ training.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also ordered the removal of the airline’s head of training from his position for a period of three months besides imposing a fine of Rs 3 lakh each on eight designated examiners (DEs), according to a statement.

AirAsia India, in a statement, said it was reviewing the DGCA order and considering an appeal against it.

“We acknowledge that a finding related to training exercises of pilots was observed by the DGCA following the main base inspection in November 2022. Immediate corrective action was taken in coordination with DGCA and additional simulator training sessions to address the gap were implemented,” the AirAsia statement said.

The enforcement action came following a surveillance inspection conducted by the DGCA on the airline during November 23-25 last year and subsequently a showcause notice was issued to the airline, its head of training and all DEs.

The DGCA team observed that a few mandatory exercises of the pilots of AirAsia India Ltd were not done as per schedule during pilot proficiency checks/ instrument rating checks, the DGCA said in a statement.