Indian carriers to add 115 jets to fill gap left by Go First: Report

Airlines in India are swiftly stepping in to fill the gap left behind by Go First's flight suspension.

As per a report in The Economic Times, Indian carriers are now planning to increase their fleet by around 115 aircrafts in this financial year to accommodate the rising passenger numbers caused due to cash-strapped Go First's cancellation of flights.

Most of these aircrafts will come from Indigo and Air India and will be deployed on domestic routes.

Indigo, with an approximate 60 per cent market share, plans to add around 50 aircrafts by the end of March 2024. This will fulfil their goal of increasing their fleet size from 304 to 350, senior executives told ET. They further added that there might be an increase in the volume of additions if the engine supply problem is resolved. Currently, Indigo has grounded around 35 aircrafts due to shortage of engines and spare parts.

Read | Go First's lessors' plea for plane deregistration shown as 'rejected' due to DGCA portal glitch

Meanwhile, Air India, owned by Tata intends to add a 21 Airbus A321 Neo by March 2024 along with 3 A321 Neo in June. By the end of this fiscal year Air India Express intends to have 50 aircrafts delivered. They plan to have 75 airlines by the end of FY24 along with Vistara adding nine AirBus A320 aircrafts after their merger.

Spice jet, owned by Ajay Singh expects to add 20 aircrafts by the end of 2023 through the return of their grounded aircrafts and wet lease agreements, for which they have already gotten DGCA approval at the end of 2022 . Agreements are being signed and the airline will be back in good capacity in October, ET reported.

Akasa Air, a new airline with currently 19 aircrafts will also be adding four more aircrafts by the end of FY23.

With the suspension of Go First operations from May 3, due to them filing bankruptcy airline executives are hopeful that the addition by other aircrafts will soon fill the gap between passenger volumes and aircrafts, the report added. This will also lead to a reduction in the flight rates which have been increased due to higher lease rent since India is currently being regarded as a high risk jurisdiction.