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India stops 737-MAX operations, warns airlines on prices
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SME Times News Bureau | 14 Mar, 2019
Following a global trend of grounding Boeing 737-MAX aircraft, India
finally suspended the plane's operations and over-flight permissions on
Wednesday evening, even as hundreds of passengers were affected at
airports.
The government tried to protect passengers from the
double whammy of high fares and reduced flight operations. Advising
airlines not to go in for predatory pricing, it said that it will be
monitoring key sectors to detect any high fares.
Briefing the
media here, after a meeting between Ministry of Civil Aviation officials
with airlines' representatives, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh
Kharola said that all flights operated on Boeing 737-MAX have been
grounded before 4 p.m.
In India, SpiceJet and Jet Airways
operate 17 Boeing 737-MAX aircraft -- Spice (12) and Jet (5) -- though
the latter's fleet was already grounded due to various reasons.
"We
have advised the airlines... that they should not use it (grounding) as
a reason to hike their fares," Kharola told reporters.
"They
have assured us that they will go as per normal routine. The DGCA
(Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has said that it will be
monitoring all the sectors very closely...if it is found that pricing is
predatory, advisory will be issued."
Kharola said that
SpiceJet cancelled 14 flights, out of the 500-plus flights it operates
on a daily basis. The airline was able to take care of passengers on its
cancelled flights.
However, according to sector experts, airfares are already high and the current developments may further push them up.
"The
shortage of planes and high seat occupancies are expected to push air
fares north in the short term. The fares were at least 15 per cent
higher this year compared to last year. Owing to the current situation,
they are expected to rise further this season," Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C)
of Yatra.com said.
According to Aloke Bajpai, CEO and co-founder,
ixigo: "Following the ban on Boeing 737 MAX in Indian airspace,
international inbound flights have been affected. Post-DGCA
announcement, 34 international flights flying into Mumbai and 12 flights
bound for Delhi were cancelled."
"Grounding of additional
planes will further impact fares which were already high this season.
Both domestic and international fares for flights to and from Mumbai and
Delhi have seen an average increase of 40-50 per cent and we expect
fares to rise further due to shortage of planes."
Earlier in
the day, the Ministry of Civil Aviation tweeted: "No B737 Max aircraft
will be allowed to enter or transit the Indian airspace effective 1600
hours."
This came as a clarification and in continuation to its
late Tuesday decision when the Ministry had tweeted: "DGCA has taken the
decision to ground the Boeing 737-MAX planes immediately."
The
Ministry added on Wednesday: "B737Max operations will stop from or to
all Indian airports. Additionally, no B737 Max aircraft will be allowed
to enter or transit the Indian airspace effective 1600 hours Indian time
or 1030 UTC."
On its part, SpiceJet said that it is
rationalising and optimising the use of its Boeing 737NG and Bombardier
Q400 aircraft to address the current situation and minimise
inconvenience to its passengers.
"We are evaluating options for
augmenting capacity in the coming days through a mix of additional
flights & aircraft inductions. We are sure that our operations will
be normal very soon," the airline said in a statement.
"Complying
with the DGCA directive, SpiceJet has grounded its entire B737 Max
fleet. A majority of passengers affected as a result of these
cancellations have been accommodated by SpiceJet on alternate flights."
Apart
from cancellations, Wednesday's restriction will also hamper fleet
augmentation of SpiceJet and Jet Airways with 737-MAX, thereby impacting
their international expansion.
They have also placed orders for
355 737-MAX aircraft. Of this, SpiceJet has 205 737-MAX aircraft on
order and Jet Airways 150 planes of the same type.
The DGCA has
said that the Boeing 737 MAX planes will be grounded till appropriate
modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe
operations.
With the latest action, India joined the UK, Singapore, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Australia and the EU nations in the grounding.
The
global grounding of the Boeing fleet follows the crash of an Ethiopian
Airlines' Boeing 737-MAX flight on Sunday killing all 157 people on
board.
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