DGCA asks Go First to halt ticket sales; sends show cause notice

“The airline operator has been asked to submit their reply within 15 days of the receipt of this notice, and further decision on the continuation of their Air Operators Certificate (AOC) will be taken on the basis of the reply submitted by them,” the regulator said in a statement.

The AOC is the approval given to operators by the DGCA for undertaking commercial operations. An airline cannot operate without an AOC. On May 2, Go First announced that it was voluntarily approaching the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the IBC, and was cancelling all its flights for the May 3-5 period.

The flight cancellations were subsequently extended till May 9 and then May 12. The airline had also suspended sale of tickets till May 15.

Meanwhile, the airline has requested the NCLT to take an early decision on its voluntary insolvency resolution plea, saying lessors have started deregistering the carrier’s aircraft.

On May 4, after a hearing, the tribunal had reserved its order on the budget carrier’s petition.

Senior advocate P Nagesh along with Pranjal Kishore mentioned the matter in the morning before the principal bench of the tribunal headed by President Ramalingam Sudhakar.

The counsels requested the tribunal to take an early decision on its plea, saying that lessors have started deregistering the airline’s aircraft.

The bench agreed to look into Go First’s request. Lessors have sought the deregistration of more than 20 planes and have approached the DGCA after the Wadia group firm filed its voluntary insolvency resolution plea.

With PTI inputs