New Delhi, March 13 (IANS) A day after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed the grounding of 11 A320neo aircraft, budget carrier Indigo cancelled 47 flights on various routes, according to the information available on the airline's website, while GoAir had to cancel some flights originating out of eight centres.
While accepting that there were cancellations of flights, the company said that passengers were given the option to either choose another flight at no additional cost or cancel their booking and get a full refund.
In an official statement on Tuesday, the airline said: "IndiGo has cancelled certain flights due to the grounding of our aircraft further to the DGCA directions which has been issued in the interest of safety. While we understand that this may cause inconvenience to some of our passengers, given that we have multiple flights to the same destination, we are proactively re-accommodating all our affected passengers on other flights.""
"GoAir has complied with the DGCA directive by grounding the late serial number PW GTF engines. This has resulted in the cancellation of some flights originating out of 8 centres. Flight schedules are being altered to accommodate those affected. Alternate arrangements are made or offered to minimise impact and inconvenience; in cases where appropriate, free cancellation and re-booking options have been made available," a GoAir spokesperson said.
Citing safety concerns, the aviation industry regulator asked IndiGo and GoAir to ground a total of 11 A320neo aircraft fitted with Pratt & Whitney 1100 engines.
Out ot the 11, eight are operated by IndiGo while GoAir operates three, the DGCA said in a statement.
With this, all the A320neo aircraft with PW1100 engines beyond serial number 450 have been taken off operation in India.
DGCA said: "Both IndiGo and GoAir have been told not to refit these engines, which are spare with them in their inventory."
The directive came immediately after an IndiGo A320neo VT-ITA flight reported engine failure and had to make an emergency landing at Ahmedabad following take off from the same airport on Monday.
Previously, the DGCA had ordered grounding of three aircraft in IndiGo's A320neo fleet after the European Aviation Safety Agency issued an emergency airworthiness directive regarding similar A320neos on February 9, 2018.
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