Factbox-India's Go First seeks revival after court grants bankruptcy protection
(Reuters) - Go Airlines (India) Ltd was granted bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, paving the way for the budget carrier to renegotiate debts and contracts after it had to ground half its fleet, blaming Pratt & Whitney engines for being "faulty".
Following are some details on the carrier:
Go First was incorporated in April 2004 as GoAir and commenced flight operations in November the following year. Its inaugural flight was from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
The airline is owned by the Wadia Group, which also runs bread and biscuits maker Britannia Industries and textile firm Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Co.
It connects 27 domestic destinations and seven international cities that include Dubai and Phuket.
Go First has 59 aircraft, comprised of 54 A320neo and five A320.
Nearly half of the fleet was grounded due to problems with their Pratt & Whitney (P&W) jet engines that are yet to be replaced.
The grounding cost 108 billion rupees ($1.32 billion) in lost revenues and additional expenses, Go First said in a statement last week.
The low-cost carrier posted its biggest annual loss in fiscal 2022, local media have reported.
The Wadia Group was in talks to sell a part of its stake or completely exit the airline, the Economic Times newspaper reported in April.
Go First's market share in India's domestic aviation industry fell to 6.9% in March, from 8.4% in January.
The grounding and related issues also saw the airline delay plans to go public, local media reported.
The airline had an on-time performance, a gauge of punctuality, of 49.2% in March - the lowest of all major Indian airlines for that month.
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Edwina Gibbs)
