The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has slapped Okay Airways with a fine and suspended the airline’s application for the introduction of new aircraft, as it finds the airline's flight crew to have been overworked.

In a statement, the CAAC says that in a random inspection between January and May, the regulator found two pilots to have exceeded work hours, while there were 21 instances where 15 pilots did not meet the required rest hours. There were also 65 occasions where single pair crew were found to have worked for more eight hours.

The CAAC has since fined Okay Airways, suspended its applications for introducing new aircraft, and cut the number of its flights.

Okay Airways has pledged to improve its safety standards, optimise its route structure as well as adjust its flight plans.

Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database shows that Okay Airways operates a fleet of 28 aircraft comprising of 15 Boeing 737s and 13 Xian Aircraft MA60 turboprops. Its operates services mostly within China, and also to Jeju, Bangkok and Krabi.

Source: Cirium Dashboard