11 Airbus A320 neo aircraft grounded

The civil aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Tuesday said out of 45, it has ordered the grounding of 11 Airbus 320 neo aircraft, following instances of glitches.

The A320 neo aircraft, are powered by Pratt and Whitney Engines (PW Engines), and amongst the grounded neo planes, eight belong to Indigo Airlines while three belong to the Wadia Group's Go Air.

Earlier today, as many as 47 flights were cancelled by Indigo as eight of their Airbus A320s with the PW1100 engines were grounded after the DGCA directive, following recurrent occurrences of aborted take-offs and in-flight shutdowns (IFSD).

"Following the grounding of our six A320 Neo in accordance with the directive of the DGCA, we cancelled less than 5 percent of our flights today. To minimise the inconvenience of our customers, our teams swiftly re-accommodated the passengers on alternate flights and fully refunded the fares to any customer who preferred that," a statement issued by Indigo airline read.

Yesterday, a Lucknow bound Indigo flight from the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Airport in Ahmedabad, with 186 passengers on board, had to return and make an emergency landing because of a technical snag in the engine.