Mumbai-based airline Go First inducted its 55th Airbus A320 Neo in its fleet on Wednesday, expanding it to 60 aircraft, of which 55 are A320 Neo and 5 are A320 Ceo.
As part of its expansion plan, the airline has already placed orders for the delivery of 144 Airbus A320 Neo aircraft. Currently, the carrier’s fleet has A320 Neos and Ceos. It has taken delivery of one A320 Neo each in September and October. One more such plane would be coming this month and another one in December.
The airline also confirmed that it has received confirmation from Pratt and Whitney to deliver some serviceable engines, which should put most of the grounded planes in the air. These engines will be immediately put into service within December 2022.
A day earlier, Go First, which is facing multiple headwinds, received an additional Rs 400 crore under the government's Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), and expects to operate more planes once it gets 16 new P&W engines in the coming weeks, according to officials.
The domestic airlines which can take up to Rs 1,500 crore under the scheme have so far availed at least a total of Rs 800 crore.
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The no-frills carrier has at least 25 planes on the ground, mainly due to the non-availability of Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines that power its A320 fleet.
With many aircraft remaining non-operational, the airline is also grappling with flight delays and rescheduling of departure timings. Further, its On-Time Performance (OTP) has taken a beating. Many passengers have been taken to social media to express their anger over flight delays and sudden cancellations. The airline had to issue refunds to around 18,000 passengers in October for delaying its flights for more than 2 hours.
The airline has been operating with a significantly smaller fleet. A large chunk of the airline's fleet is grounded due to engine-related issues. According to the fleet tracking website, 28 of the 59 Go First aircraft are parked and only 31 planes are operational.
But according to the airline spokesperson Go First is currently operating 32 aircraft and about 25 to 26 planes are grounded.
“The airline is in active discussions with P&W and expects to get 16 engines in the coming weeks. This will help in operating more aircraft,” PTI quoted the spokesperson as saying.
Regarding flight delays, the spokesperson said maximum efforts are being made to minimise cancellations while there are delays.
A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, it has regulations in place to deal with delays and cancellations, and that will be strictly enforced.
“In case, an airline is not honouring the regulations, we will step in and shall ensure redressal,” the official said.
(Edited by : Anushka Sharma)
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