IndiGo grounds 30 planes amid restriction to fight coronavirus outbreak

Mumbai: IndiGo has been forced to ground 30 planes in its fleet of258 aircraft following the government’s decision to bar international flights for a week as part of measures to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, a source said on Friday, March 20.

IndiGo operates to 24 international destinations across airports in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South Asia, China, and Turkey.

“After the temporary suspension of all international operations for a week from March 22 announced by the government, IndiGo has grounded as many as 30 aircraft in its fleet. Most of these planes were deployed on overseas routes,” the airline source told PTI.

Of the 258 aircraft in the fleet, IndiGo has 13 Airbus A321, 220 A320 CEOs and NEOs, and 25 regional jets. Apart from the longer-range A321s, IndiGoalso operates some of the A320s (CEOs) as well on international routes.

IndiGo in a statement neither confirmed nor denied the number, saying that the situation remains fluid but added that some of its aircraft are underutilized.

“The situation remains fluid and it is not possible at this point to give a definite number,” IndiGo spokesperson said in a statement to PTI.

“Owing to government restrictions, IndiGo has had to cancel a number of international services and a proportion of our aircraft are underutilized,” the airline said.

Earlier this week, aviation consultancy CAPA said Indian carriers were likely to ground initially around 150 aircraft in the wake of cancellations of international flights as the shock from the coronavirus pandemic would be far deeper and much longer.