DGCA TO MEET WITH AIRLINES TO DISCUSS RISING AIRFARES
NEW DELHI: Aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has called a meeting on Tuesday noon to discuss with airlines the upward spiral in airfares as Jet Airways continue to ground its aircraft and cancel a significant number of flights, a government official said.
According to the official, after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation grounded all 12 of Spicejet’s 737 Max aircraft on March 13 following the Ethiopian Airlines crash, that killed 157 people, the problem of rising airfares in Indian market has “aggravated”.
“DGCA has called a meeting at Tuesday noon to discuss the airfare rise because of significant number of cancellations done by Jet Airways in the last few weeks,” the government of f i ci al t ol d Press Trust of India.
Cash-strapped Jet Airways on Monday said it has grounded four more planes, taking the number of aircraft that are nonoperational due to non-payment of lease rentals to 41.
Etihad Airport services, in a notification to its passengers on Sunday, said, “Jet Airways has cancelled all their flights from Abu Dhabi with immediate effect from March 18 due to operational reasons”.
According to its website, the airline has a fleet of 119 planes.
For last few weeks, passengers have been venting their ire on social media as Jet Airways’ f l i g ht c a nce l l a t i o ns have increased gradually due to rising number of grounded aircraft.
Grappling with financial woes, the carrier has been looking at ways to raise fresh funds.