Go First to get Rs 210 crore under govt’s credit line guarantee scheme: CEO

The Wadia Group-owned budget airline Go First is set to receive Rs 210 crore from the government’s Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) next month in order to strengthen its financial position and further expand operations. Go First has already availed Rs 600 crore under the ECLGS, and will receive an additional Rs 210 crore in the form of a loan from the promoters. With this loan, the airline aims to have 53 operational aircraft in its fleet by April.

However, the budget carrier is hampered by Pratt & Whitney engine issues, which have forced it to ground many planes due to a shortage of spare engines. The airline expects to receive 20 new engines from Pratt & Whitney by April, which will help it operationalize 10 aircraft. In addition, seven new Airbus A320 neo planes will be added to the fleet by the first week of April. Going forward, the airline will have 9 more new aircraft by March 2024.

CEO Kaushik Khona said that the airline currently has the best aircraft utilization rate in the industry at 14.20 hours per day, operating an average of 6.5 flights per aircraft per day. Despite this, the On-Time Performance of the budget carrier remains a challenge due to its North-dominant operations. Nevertheless, the airline has seen substantial improvement in its OTP in January.

The airline has also been able to benefit from lower fuel costs (down to 42% from a high of 60% in September) and a rising air travel demand coupled with better yield. Despite the fine of Rs 10 lakh imposed by the DGCA for an incident where 55 passengers were left behind in a passenger coach, Go First entered January with advanced booking at 51% and is expecting to maintain the same level for February.