DGCA to conduct special audit of Go First facilities on July 4-6

Cash-strapped Go First stopped flying on May 3 and is undergoing a voluntary insolvency resolution process

New Delhi: Aviation watchdog DGCA will conduct a special audit of grounded airline Go First’s facilities in the national capital and Mumbai from July 4 to 6 before approving the revival plan for resumption of flights, according to a senior official.

Cash-strapped Go First stopped flying on May 3 and is undergoing a voluntary insolvency resolution process.

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Meanwhile, a senior executive at the airline expressed hope of resuming ticket sales — which was paused by DGCA following the grounding of the carrier — from July 7 or July 8 and subsequent relaunch of the operations from middle of next month.

At present, the airline has cancelled all its flights till July 6.

The senior official at DGCA on Friday said after a preliminary review of the resumption plan submitted by the Resolution Professional (RP) for Go First on June 28, the regulator has planned to conduct a special audit.

“The special audit to be conducted from July 4 to 6 shall be focused on the safety-related aspects and continued compliance of the requirements to hold an Air Operator Certificate, as well as on physical verification of the arrangements made for the resumption of flight operations,” the official said.

DGCA earlier was scheduled to conduct the audit of the facilities last Tuesday.

The fresh dates for the audit were announced days after senior representatives of the current management of Go First discussed various aspects of the revival plan with officials of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in New Delhi.

The plan entails resuming operations with 26 aircraft, including four planes for chartered operations and over 150 daily flights to and from 23 destinations.

After the meeting, which took place with the airline’s EY-backed Resolution Professional Shailendra Ajmera and Interim CEO Kaushik Khona, a source had said that DGCA will examine documents submitted by Go First related to the revival plan and will also conduct an audit on operational preparedness before allowing the carrier to restart operations.

Prior to the grounding of operations on May 3, the once Wadia Group-owned carrier was operating flights from across 29 domestic destinations.

The airline, when it restarts operations, subject to regulatory approval, will not be operating flights from Jaipur, Lucknow, Kannur, Patna, Varanasi and Ranchi for the time being, the source added.

According to the source, lenders have committed an interim funding of around Rs 450 crore, considering a day’s operations are expected to cost around Rs 10 crore.

Further, the source said the airline has adequate manpower, including around 300 pilots besides other employees such as cabin crew, Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AMEs) and other staff.

The revival process gathered pace after the formation of the airline’s Committee of Creditors (CoC), comprising Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank and Deutsche Bank, on June 10.

At the June 10 meetings, the CoC also approved Ajmera’s appointment as the RP, replacing Interim RP Abhilash Lal of Alvarez & Marsal India.