DGCA received applications to de-register 54 aircraft leased to Go First: Govt

The government said on Monday that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has received applications from lessors for de-registration of 54 aircraft leased to Go First, adding that processing of the applications by the DGCA is subject to the outcome of the cases lying before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and Delhi High Court.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, General (Retd.) V.K. Singh, said that Go First has submitted its resumption plan to DGCA for operating 150 flights daily with 26 aircraft.

“The DGCA has been closely monitoring the situation since the announcement made by Go First on May 2 to cancel its flights and its application for insolvency filed under Section 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

"In the wake of suspension of operations by Go First, airlines have been advised to self-regulate the air fares and maintain reasonable price levels and also to introduce new flights on the sectors that had a substantial number of Go First flights,” the minister said.

Singh added in his reply that a total number of 358 leased aircraft have been removed from the civil aircraft registry since January 2018 till date.

The minister was replying to a query raised by BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi, who asked whether it is a fact that aircraft lessors of Go First have filed applications with the DGCA seeking de-registration and repossession of 20 planes leased to Wadia Group and the action taken so far.

Sushil Modi's question read: “Number of leased planes de-registered and repossessed by lessors in the last five years, year-wise and company-wise. Whether Go First has submitted any plan to start its operation with a number of aircraft and daily flights and steps taken by the government to tackle the situation created by closure of Go First airlines." 

Replying to another question on the share of different airlines and number of passengers carried by each in the last six months, month-wise and airline-wise, Singh said that a total number of 7,61,03,790 passengers in scheduled domestic operations and 1,36,32,621 passengers in scheduled international operations have been carried in the last six months.