Uncertainty prevails over the resumption of Go First flights as the airline failed to provide a definite plan to the DGCA in response to a showcause notice.
In its reply, “the airline professed its interest in restarting flights and informed the DGCA of the NCLT order admitting its voluntary insolvency plea and appointing an interim resolution professional,” a senior DGCA official said.
The airline also informed the regulator about the IRP’s efforts to fulfil the mandate defined by NCLT to ensure Go First remains a going concern, the official added without elaborating on what these efforts were.
The airline, however, didn’t provide a specific date for restart of flights, or the status of aircraft in its fleet over which there is a legal dispute with the lessors who have terminated lease agreements.
“The airline will come back with definitive clarity,” the official said. The DGCA served the showcause notice on May 8 and had then said that on the basis of its reply, it would take a call on suspending the airline’s permit to offer commercial flights.
But, on Tuesday the official said, “the NCLT order has materially changed the circumstances in which the showcause was served, and grants the airline a blanket moratorium, which also protects their Aircraft Operator’s Certificate.”
Meanwhile, it is reliably learnt that lessors are contemplating approaching aircraft insurers to claim a complete loss on their aircraft like many had done following the Russia-Ukraine conflict when lessees didn’t return as many as 400 aircraft after Western countries imposed sanctions.
