Airline Go First cancels another batch of flights up till May 19

In a statement made on Twitter today, beleaguered airline Go First announced that it has cancelled another batch of flights flying up till the May 19.

“We regret to inform that due to operational reasons, Go First flights scheduled till 19th May 2023 have been cancelled. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the flight cancellations,” the statement posted on Twitter said. 

“We acknowledge the flight cancellations might have disrupted your travel plans and we are committed to providing all the assistance we can,” it added. 

The airline has promised to issue refunds for the customers who had booked the flights on the cancelled dates.

The company also stated that it had filed an application for “immediate resolution and revival of operations”. 

This recent cancellation of flights comes shortly after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had issued a show cause notice asking the airline to stop selling tickets with immediate effect. The notice pointed towards the airline’s “failure to continue operations in a safe, efficient and reliable manner”. 

The airline has been given 15 days to submit a reply to the issued notice. The reply will determine if the airline gets to continue with its Air Operators Certificate (AOC).

Go First suspended the sale of tickets up till May 15th in response to the notice.  

The cancellation marks the second batch of flights the airline has cancelled, the previous being those scheduled for May 3rd through to 5th. The airline then extended this date until May 12, citing “operational reasons” as the cause for doing so.   

The Airline had filed for insolvency resolution proceedings in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The appeal goes over the airline’s debts and liabilities, amounting to over Rs 11,000 crore. This amount was greatly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic when the airline went by the name 'Go Air.'

Last week, the airline filed for bankruptcy, mentioning severe cash crunch and “faulty” engines provided by US manufacturer Pratt and Whitney that resulted in most of the airline’s fleet getting grounded.