Grounded Day 3: GoAir, IndiGo cancel 48 flights
A RAIPURBOUND INDIGO FLIGHT RETURNED TO HYDERABAD BECAUSE OF TECHNICAL ISSUES WHILE SPICEJET FLIGHT WAS STRANDED ON THE TARMAC FOR 2 HOURS
MUMBAI/HYDERABAD: Domestic carriers IndiGo and GoAir cancelled around 48 flights on Wednesday, as almost one-third of their A320 Neo aircraft fleet remained grounded for the third day following a safety directive by aviation watchdog DGCA.
Of the 48 flights that are not being operated as part of the curtailed schedule, 42 are of IndiGo and six of GoAir.
GoAir has also announced that it is cancelling 18 flights from March 15 to 24. These include flights from Cochin, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata.
IndiGo had cancelled 42 flights for March 14, including to Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Jaipur, Srinagar, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Dehradun, Amritsar, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, the airline announced on its website.
Critics have blamed Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s “sudden decision” to ground the 11 Airbus narrow-body aircraft – eight of IndiGo and three of GoAir – for chaos at airports.
“The regulator announced the decision suddenly on Monday evening after which the two airlines had to call off the aircraft that were in operations,” said an official requesting anonymity.
The DCGA grounded on Monday 11 planes featuring a series of Pratt & Whitney engines following in-flight engine failures. The decision came after a Lucknow-bound IndiGo flight faced a mid-air scare earlier in the day.
On Tuesday, the two carriers cancelled at least 65 flights, with IndiGo scrapping at least 47, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. An A320 Neo carries around 180 people.
Indigo, which has now been forced to pull out 11 Neo aircraft from service, said on Wednesday it had adjusted the flight schedule and passengers informed accordingly. GoAir said it was making all possible arrangements to minimise the impact.
Minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha said at an event in New Delhi on Wednesday that the DGCA adopted a “proactive” approach in grounding the 11 aircraft and that no other aviation regulator in the world would have taken the step.
RETURN FLIGHT
A Raipur-bound Indigo airlines flight returned to Hyderabad on Wednesday because of technical issues. An airport spokesman said IndiGo flight 6E 334 developed some technical problem within minutes of taking off from at around 10.40 am. It is learnt the glitch was due to exhaust gas temperature (EGT) going over the limit in one of the engines.
A Spice Jet flight (SG 942) to New Delhi was stranded on the tarmac for more than two hours due to unknown technical reasons, the spokesperson added.