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The Hindu
The Hindu
National
Jagriti Chandra

IndiGo’s fleet groundings rise to over 70 after engine issue

Aircraft groundings for budget carrier IndiGo have gone up to over 70 from the earlier 40 for its Airbus A320 neo planes after a recent powder metal issue with Pratt and Whitney engines, but the airline continued to report a profit for the fifth consecutive quarter.

“Our aircraft on ground are in the mid-70s, which is a slight improvement from our previous estimate,” said IndiGo’s Chief Financial Officer, Gaurav Negi, in a post-results call. Until October-end, the groundings were in the “mid-40s”. In July, PW had said that the powder metal defect could lead to the cracking of some engine components in the twin-engined Airbus A320neo planes and called for accelerated inspections.

However, this has not affected the airline’s growth in capacity which is expected to be over 20% for the financial year 2024, above its earlier projection of a rate of mid-teens. The airline, which has 358 aircraft in its fleet, will continue to add a plane a week and along with additional measures such as aircraft on wet leases, it expects the expansion to offset the groundings in a “few months”.

IndiGo reported a profit of ₹2,998 crore for the quarter ended December. “We continue to recover from the losses of Covid and have now become net worth positive again,” the airline said in a press statement.

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