Earlier, the airline had announced cancellations till May 12. In a statement, the airline apologised for the inconvenience caused by these cancellations.
On Wednesday, India’s bankruptcy court granted the low cost airline bankruptcy protection, and appointed Abhilash Lal as interim resolution professional to run Go First.
Refunds will be issued to the original mode of payment shortly, the statement said. The airline was committed to providing all possible assistance, the statement added.
Through an earlier announcement, the Wadia-owned airline had suspended flights for May 3, 4 and 5 due to pending dues of oil marketing companies.
The troubled airline’s cash flow has been hit owing to the grounding of more than half of its fleet because of recurrent issues and non-supply of engines from Pratt & Whitney engines.Till its case went to NCLT, the airline was looking for a strategic investor.While it was operating, the airline was on cash and carry mode, meaning it had to pay daily for the number of flights it wants to operate.
Go First had 30 aircraft grounded as of March 31, including nine on which the lease payments are due, industry officials said. Go First has a total of 61 aircraft in its fleet – 56 A320neos and five A320ceos, according to the airline’s website.
The loss of passenger revenue comes when airfares are high and traffic is soaring after the pandemic. The airline plans to operate 1,538 flights a week in the ongoing summer schedule, 40 lower than last year. The season started on March 26 and goes on till October 28.
Since July 2022, when it first had to ground its aircraft, Go First’s market share has shrunk. Market share narrowed to 8 percent carrying 963,000 passengers in February from a peak of 11.1 percent when it carried 1.27 million passengers in May 2022.
The fall in passengers carried has impacted Go First’s financials. The airline reported a net loss of $218 million in FY22, according to regulatory filings. This was twice as much as the previous year’s loss of $105 million.
