Go First is facing heightened troubles as DGCA considers permanently revoking its airport slots and international flying rights
Go First might be landing on an end lane as DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) is considering to permanently revoke the airline's domestic airport slots and international flying rights. As per sources cited in a report by moneycontrol, the airlines might not be able to resume their 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 stated.
He further explained that Go First's domestic airport slots have been reassigned to other airlines, and its international flying rights will also be reallocated shortly.
In India, airlines are entitled to airport slots if they meet the annual slot adherence requirements. Airlines have to operate at least 80 per cent of the scheduled departures agreed upon with the regulator.
According to sources cited in the report, the government had temporarily allocated Go First's flying rights for the Winter Schedule of 2023 and the Summer Schedule of 2024, these allocations will become permanent 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," a government official said.
Last month, the Delhi High Court instructed the DGCA to process the de-registration requests for the aircraft leased by the troubled airlines. The Indian aviation regulator has approved the de-registration of the majority of Go First's 54 aircraft, as per the requests made by lessors when the airline halted its operations in May 2023.