Aircraft defects accounted for 29 per cent of cancellations of Air India (AI) flights since April 2012, an indication that the maintenance is not up to the mark in the national carrier.
A total of 4,131 flights were cancelled between April 2012 and July 2013 in which 623 occurred in the current fiscal.
AI continues to have the highest number of cancellations compared to other domestic airlines. Latest industry figures for June shows that AI has the highest rate of cancellation at 2 per cent followed by SpiceJet at 1.3 per cent.
Official figures showed that 1,202 cancellations during the period were due to defects in the aircraft. Of this, 191 occurred during the first four months of the current fiscal. Experts said that poor maintenance was the reason behind such cancellations.
During the first six months of 2013, the Director General of Civil Aviaton said, 4,765 passengers were affected due to cancellation of flights by AI who had to shell out Rs 24.67 lakh as compensation.
In the current fiscal, June reported the highest number of cancellations due to aircraft defects. In 2012, July had the highest cancellations when 168 services were called off due to defects.
AI cancelled flights 165 times during the period due to marketing and commercial reasons, while government requirements forced cancellation on 262 occasions.