A day after aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asked crisis-hit Go First to stop selling travel tickets immediately, the airline on Tuesday said it had already stopped taking bookings.
In a statement, the airline said: "To reduce the inconvenience to the passengers, we had already stopped taking bookings, before the DGCA issued the Notice. GO FIRST is taking all possible measures to reduce passenger inconvenience. As regards the DGCA Notice, the same will be responded to, in due course.”
The DGCA on Monday asked the airline to stop booking and sale of tickets directly/indirectly, with immediate effect until further orders. It issued notice to Go First for failure to continue operations in a safe, efficient, and reliable manner.
"In view of the sudden cancellation of flights and initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process under IBC by Go Airlines (India) Limited (Go First), DGCA has issued a show cause notice to Go First under the relevant provisions of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, for their failure to continue the operation of the service in a safe, efficient and reliable manner,” the aviation regulator said.
"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. Further, Go First has been directed to stop booking and sale of tickets directly or indirectly, with immediate effect and until further orders," said DGCA in its notice.
DGCA issued the first notice on May 2.
Go First at NCLT
On Monday, Wadia Group-controlled Go First asked the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to urgently pass an order on its insolvency plea, citing lessors' efforts to take back planes. Go First lawyers told the tribunal that it should pass an order on the airline's insolvency plea as lessors had moved to court to repossess the planes.
On May 2, Go First announced to cancel all the flights from May 3 to 5 after it moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) where it filed an application under Section 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
The airline has blamed engine maker Pratt & Whitney for its troubles and said that their faulty engines had resulted in the grounding of 50 per cent of its fleet consisting of 54 Airbus A320neos. The same day, the airline said it would suspend ticket sales until May 15 and further cancel flights until May 12. However, now, the bookings have been closed indefinitely.