‘Temporarily’: GoAir’s bilaterals, slots given to other airline companies

NEW DELHI: The slots and foreign bilateral rights of GoAir have been “temporarily given” to other airlines. Given the global supply chain crunch that has caused a mismatch in demand and supply of planes amid resurgence in air travel, the Union aviation ministry took this step to come to the aid of air travellers. With almost curtains for GoAir revival after a key bidder pulled out, other airlines could retain its rights after getting govt nod.
“Temporary distribution (of Go slots and bilaterals) has been happening for sometime now,” said people in the know. Tata Group’s Air India and IndiGo are adding almost a plane every week to their fleet. AI Express and Akasa also plan to grow rapidly, despite being affected by Boeing’s issues with the B737 MAX — the plane these two airlines have ordered.
“All airport slots that GoAir had are gone. Their bilaterals were temporarily distributed mainly among Air India, Vistara and IndiGo. Akasa asked for Go’s Dubai flying rights (it has so far got the same for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar). Now that there is no bidder left for GoAir, airlines will ask the ministry whether the temporarily distributed slots and bilaterals of Go will be put in a general pool and then given as per airlines’ needs,” said officials of multiple airlines.