Go First Crisis: Airline Likely To Lose Airport Slots And International Flying Right, Says Report

In India, airlines can secure an airport slot entitlement by adhering to the annual slot utilisation requirements, which mandate that they operate at least 80 per cent of the scheduled departures

The Indian aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is reportedly considering permanently revoking Go First's domestic airport slots and international flying rights, indicating potential difficulties for the airline to resume operations.

"It's been a year since the collapse of Go First. Per the Slot Allocation Guidelines, 2013, since the airline has not utilised any of its airport slots in the last year, it loses its historic precedence to domestic airport slots," a senior government official told Moneycontrol.

He further mentioned that the domestic airport slots initially assigned to Go First have already been reassigned to other airlines, and plans are underway to reallocate its international flying rights in the near future.

According to the report, another government official highlighted that although the government had provisionally assigned Go First's flying rights for the Winter Schedule of 2023 and the Summer Schedule of 2024, these allocations are set to be formalised into permanent arrangements by the end of the month.

"To cater to the rising domestic and international air traffic demand, the domestic airport slots and international flying rights of Go First have already been allocated temporarily to other airlines," the second government official told the publication.

The report quotes a key person engaged in the airline's bankruptcy proceedings as saying that the loss of Go First's longstanding access to domestic slots and international flying rights to destinations such as Oman, Dubai, Thailand, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore is anticipated to exert additional downward pressure on the carrier's valuation.

In India, airlines can secure an airport slot entitlement by adhering to the annual slot utilisation requirements, which mandate that they operate at least 80 per cent of the scheduled departures stipulated by the regulator.

On May 2, 2023, Go First filed for insolvency and halted its operations the following day. It attributed its financial troubles to the malfunctioning engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney, which necessitated the grounding of half of its aircraft fleet. The airline is saddled with liabilities amounting to Rs 11,463 crore owed to all its creditors collectively.