New Delhi: Troubled airline company Go First cancelled all of its flights till May 9, citing ‘operational reasons’. The Wadia Group’s airline had earlier stopped taking any bookings on flights till May 15.

Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday ordered the airline to process the refunds for cancelled flights to troubled passengers as per the timeline given in the regulations.

Declaring Insolvency

Earlier on Tuesday, Go First announced that it was filing for voluntary insolvency proceedings with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the airline while putting blame on engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney (P&W) said that it was “forced to apply to the NCLT” after “the ever-increasing number of failing engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney’s International Aero Engines” resulted in the grounding of 25 aircrafts, and huge financial stress.

Go First’s crisis can prove to be other flights’ advantage as due to the peak summer holiday season, it will give an opportunity to other companies to hike flight prices.

Go First operates six daily non-stop flights on Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Srinagar, and Mumbai-Goa routes. The aircraft also operates five daily non-stop flights on the Delhi-Leh route. In international destinations, it operates from Phuket, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Muscat, and the Maldives.

The Airline until now commanded a market share of 7.8% in the January-March quarter and flew around 29.11 lakh passengers.

“With Pratt & Whitney failing to abide by the directions in the emergency arbitrator’s award by providing spare leased engines, and with further engine failures expected in the next 3-4 months, the operations of Go First will be made unviable,” the low-cost airline said.