Amid Financial Woes, Two Go First Flights To Mumbai Diverted To Gujarat's Surat Airport
Two Go First planes were diverted to Surat airport. The passengers were not allowed to deboard. Surat Airport Director said the cause of the landing is not clear yet.
Two Go First flights — one from Srinagar to Mumbai and another from Delhi to Mumbai — diverted and landed at Gujarat's Surat airport between 6:30 pm and 7 pm. "All the passengers are still on the aircraft. The cause of the landing is not clear yet," Surat Airport Director Rupesh Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
A passenger on the Delhi-Mumbai Go First tweeted that they had been sitting inside the plane for over 45 minutes. "Go first flight G8 336 scheduled from delhi to mumbai was supposed to land in mumbai at 6:30, but it’s landed in Surat and we all passengers are stranded inside the aircraft for the last 45 mins without any information [sic]," the passenger Pritam Raj said.
Earlier in the day, Go First said it will temporarily suspend flight operations on May 3 and 4 due to a "severe fund crunch". It later increased the duration of flights' suspension till May 5. It also filed an application for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday. Go First operates on a cash-and-carry model, which means that it has to pay Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) daily for each flight and they can stop business if payments are not made.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the Centre has been assisting the airline in every possible manner. "The issue has also been taken up with the stakeholders involved. Yet, it is unfortunate that this operational bottleneck has dealt a blow to the airline’s financial position," Jyotiraditya Scindia was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. "It has come to our knowledge that the airline has applied to the NCLT. It is prudent to wait for the judicial process to run its course. Meanwhile, the DGCA has issued a notice to the airline regarding the sudden suspension of flights. It’s incumbent upon the airline to make alternative travel arrangements for passengers, so that inconvenience is minimal," Scindia said.
Airline's chief Kaushik Khona said the airline has grounded 28 planes, more than half of its fleet, due to non-supply of engines by Pratt & Whitney (P&W). This has resulted in a fund crunch. "It is an unfortunate decision (filing for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings) but it had to be done to protect the interests of the company," he said.
The airline has informed the government about the developments and will also be submitting a detailed report to the DGCA. Go First suspended its flights on Wednesday and Thursday due to a lack of funds to pay oil marketing companies (OMCs). The airline has been facing significant financial challenges as it has had to ground over half of its fleet due to recurring problems and the non-supply of Pratt & Whitney engines, which power its Airbus A320 Neo aircraft, the report said. This has seriously impacted the airline's cash flow.
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