A day after the Oasis Hong Kong Airlines' debut flight was grounded for not having the permission to fly over Russia, the local long-haul budget carrier took off yesterday for London at 1:19 pm.

Oasis Chairman Raymond Lee, who also took the flight yesterday, admitted the incident was "a great blow" but he stressed that the airlines could not be blamed for the delay.

Lee said he was shocked that the airlines were denied the permission even though Oasis had discussed with Russian authorities 18 months ago and supplied all necessary documents.

No explanation from the Russian authorities has yet been received, he said. It may be due to bureaucratic error or misunderstanding from Russian authorities that has let them revoke their decision, Lee said. He said every effort was made to ensure the comfort of the passengers. He also believed the passengers were happy with the arrangement provided by the airlines.

He said the airlines management had meetings with SAR government officials between eight to 10 pm on Wednesday and the government was satisfied with their explanation.

Meanwhile, the airlines had to get approval from Chinese officials to fly over Guangdong because of the change in flight schedule. They received the approval from Chinese officials yesterday.

Government help

Lee thanked the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) and Stephen Ip, Secretary for Economic Development and Labour who contacted the Russian Government to get the green light.

Lee said to avoid similar incidents from happening again, they would learn from the experience and pay close attention to international affairs.

He said the airline still had to calculate the loss resulting from the delay.

Spokesman for Oasis' PR company Hill & Knowlton said 236 passengers boarded the plane yesterday. The number was fewer than Wednesday's 301 because some passengers had taken other flights on Wednesday or they chose to depart at another day, he said.

He said since the permission to fly over Russia for the return trip was not yet granted, the return flight from London today would fly over Central Asia.

In unforeseen circumstances when operations were disrupted, airlines must keep passengers informed immediately and make alternative arrangements to minimize inconvenience to passengers, a CAD spokesman said.

The CAD will seek further information from Oasis on the incident and had reminded the airline to prevent recurrence of similar incidents in future, the spokesman added.

However, a student Lo Ming-kit and his younger brother had decided not to take the flight yesterday. Because of the delay he missed the connecting flight from London to Edinburgh yesterday at 6 am Hong Kong time.

He bought the ticket online from EasyJet for 30 pounds a few weeks ago. He said the price had increased to 150 pounds now. He said Oasis would not compensate the difference in ticket price.