Disruption in the airline industry due to COVID-19 has not impacted GoAir's plan to retire its Airbus A320ceo fleet and it remains on track, an airline official has said.
The Wadia group-owned airline has at present 43 A320neo planes and the rest 13 A320s in the fleet of 56 aircraft.
GoAir had launched the airline in November 2005 with A320s but later switched to more fuel-efficient A320neo in 2016.
Of the 19 such planes the airline inducted in the first phase of its fleet expansion, it has already phased out six as part of the plan, which is aimed at cost-cutting by way of fuel saving and low-maintenance cost, the official said.
"Since these planes have already completed their lease period, we had the option to either extend the lease further or return and so we decided for the latter option. Moreover, we are already inducting the more fuel-efficient A320Neo planes, which give us the cost advantage as well," the official said.
Significantly, GoAir's bigger rival IndiGo too has announced of phasing out its 120 A320s from its fleet in the next two years due to high cost.
Stating that the plan to phase out the remaining 13 aircraft remains on track, the official said the exit of these aircraft from the fleet would not have any impact either on the network or operations of the airline.
GoAir spokesperson could not be reached for comments.
The airline has placed order for 144 A320neo planes in two tranches, which are to be delivered to it over a period of time. In June 2011, the carrier had placed an order for 72 new A320neo aircraft valued at about Rs 32,400 crore on the then list price. Then in January 2017, it firmed an order for another 72 A320neos worth Rs 52,000 crore. The deliveries from the first tranche commenced from 2016.
"At present, we are operating flights in a curtailed manner like all other domestic carriers with a good number of aircraft on ground. And with demand unlikely to recover any time soon, even if a full schedule is restored over a period of time we will have enough aircraft to cater to the traffic," the official said.
Global aviation consultancy CAPA estimates domestic traffic at 55-70 million (5.5-7 crore) and international air traffic demand at 20-27 million (2-2.7 crore) for the current fiscal.
Indian airlines have been allowed to fly on domestic routes in graded manner from May 25 after two months of grounding of all operations due to the pandemic. However, the government has not yet decided on the timeline for resumption of international services.
Prior to the ban on commercial passenger flights, GoAir had been operating over 340 services per day to 35 destinations that include 27 domestic and eighth international destinations.
