Aviation Standby: 164 planes grounded across India’s 15 key airports, reveals Civil Aviation Minister Scindia
In a recent revelation to the Lok Sabha in a written reply, the Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that 164 planes are grounded idle across 15 airports in India. These airports are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa (Mopa), Hyderabad, Jaipur, Juhu, Kolkata, Kannur, Mumbai, Nagpur and Raipur.
Airports with idle planes
As per the response of Scindia, the grounded aeroplanes include those of IndiGo, SpiceJet, Go First, Air India, Zoom Air, and Alliance Air. While Delhi airport has 24 planes of IndiGo and 23 planes of Go First parked with it, there are 6 more of SpiceJet, five of Zoom Air, three of Jet Airways, 2 Air India and one plane of Alliance Air.
Similarly, Bengaluru airport has 17 planes of IndiGo and nine planes of Go First, along with one aircraft of SpiceJet Airways.
In Mumbai, nine planes of Go First and six of Jet Airways stand idle. Other air carriers including four Air India, four General Aviation, and one SpiceJet aircraft stand idle at the airport.
About 29 aircraft stand idle at the airports managed by the Airport Authority of India, according to the Civil Aviation Minister.
The problem with idle Aircrafts
“AAI follows up with the airlines regularly for disposal of their idle aircraft. AAI has a security deposit/ bank guarantee of around Rs 730 crore against these aircraft,” Scindia said. While responding to a supplementary question in the Lok Sabha, Scindia said the problem is that 95 per cent of the aircraft on the ground in India today is because of engine supplier Pratt & Whitney (P&W).
“The problem is at the end of P&W, who face supply chain issues,” stated Jyotiraditya Scindia.