All flights of Boeing B737 Max grounded: Pradeep Kharola

Elaborating on the cancellations, Kharola said, "Today SpiceJet cancelled just 14 flights out of about 500 it operates every day. SpiceJet has said that they have increased the utilisation of existing aircraft

New Delhi: Announcing that the all B737 aircraft operating in India have been grounded, Ministry of Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola informed that discussions were held between the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and all airlines to minimise inconvenience caused to passengers.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Kharola said, "All flights of Boeing B737 Max have been grounded. We had held a meeting with the concerned airlines to ensure that safety instructions of DGCA are followed and also to ensure that because of pulling out of about 12 aircraft, passengers should not be inconvenienced." "Airlines have ensured that the grounding of 12 aircraft will not significantly impact the passengers and they have drawn a very elaborate plan," he added.

Elaborating on the cancellations, Kharola said, "Today SpiceJet cancelled just 14 flights out of about 500 it operates every day. SpiceJet has said that they have increased the utilisation of existing aircraft. With all the measures, tomorrow out of about 520 flights which SpiceJet operates about 30-35 flights will get affected."

SpiceJet's stock falls by 8%
The stock of budget carrier SpiceJet, which operates the largest fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in India, fell 8 per cent during the early trade on Wednesday, a day after the Indian civil aviation regulator ordered grounding of all such planes. Shares of SpiceJet, which has 12 of the total 17 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in India, fell 7.9 per cent to touch an intra-day low of Rs72.50 per share on the BSE around 10.30 am.

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