Australia's civil aviation regulator aims to keep Tiger Airways Australia grounded at least until the beginning of August.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is to request permission from the country's Federal Court to extend the airline's suspension of operations to 1 August - meaning the carrier will have been grounded for a month.

"If CASA completes its investigations and determinations before 1 August 2011 and is satisfied Tiger Airways Australia no longer poses a serious and imminent risk to air safety it may be possible for it to resume operations earlier," said CASA.

"The suspension of Tiger Airways Australia's operations remains in place at until either the Federal Court refuses CASA's application or CASA withdraws it."

CASA, which will submit the application to the court in Melbourne, said its original five-day suspension - which effectively stopped Tiger flying until 9 July - is not sufficient to complete its investigations.

It said it will "continue to work in a constructive and co-operative manner" with the airline. Tiger Airways has yet to respond to the decision.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news