DGCA requests airlines to augment number of flights

As airfares continue to rise, Indian aviation watchdog DGCA has "requested" the airlines to bring the "immediate and medium-term plan" on Wednesday to augment the number of flights, which will be over and above the flights approved for the summer schedule, government officials said on Tuesday. "With the grounding of the 737 Max aircraft and the continuing cancellation of flights by Jet Airways, the airfares have been rising. Therefore, the DGCA has been meeting with the airlines continuously so that they augment the additional capacity, which would be over and above the flights approved for the summer schedule," a senior government official said.

According to the officials, the airlines were "requested" to bring "the immediate and medium-term plan" to augment the "additional capacity in the market" at a meeting scheduled to be held at the DGCA office on Wednesday. For the last few weeks, the cash-strapped Jet Airways has been grounding its aircraft due to non-payment of dues to its lessors.

On April 4, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola had said Jet Airways was operating a fleet of 26 planes and it now fulfilled the criteria for operating on international routes.

According to its website, Jet Airways has a fleet of around 119 aircraft.

On March 12, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had announced its decision to "immediately" ground the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft that were being used by airlines in India. On March 10, a 737 MAX 8 aircraft operated by the Ethiopian Airlines crashed near Addis Ababa, killing 157 people, including four Indians. This was the second such crash involving the 737 MAX 8 aircraft in less than five months.