The day the civil aviation ministry launched Air-India Express — Air India’s budget airline — by selling the first ticket, the government refused the ministry’s recommendation to appoint R.K. Singh as its managing director.The airline, which will operate its maiden flight on April 29 from Thiruvananthapuram to Abu Dhabi/Muscat, introduced online ticket sales effective from Friday. Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad sold the first ticket for the Delhi-Abu Dhabi sector at a ceremony.Singh, from the same batch as Air India CMD V. Thulasidas, is a 1985 batch IAS officer of the Manipur/Tripura cadre. He is a director in the Civil Aviation Ministry looking after the Air India affairs. He was recommended by the ministry for the top job but the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) rejected his name.The ACC decision of March 16 was ironically conveyed to the ministry today.The DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) has now asked the ministry to forward a fresh proposal for the appointment of a candidate for the job.Air-India Express, with a fleet of three Boeing 737-800s, plans to operate 35 flights per week. These flights will be operated to four stations in the Gulf/Middle East including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Salalah, from five Indian stations — Kochi, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai and Delhi.Each aircraft will have 181 seats in single-class configuration, all economy. As more aircraft are inducted, the number of destinations served will increase.Air-India Express proposes to operate flights to Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta in the months to come.