Modiluft Sends Lufthansa Aircraft For Check

ModiLuft has finally started the process of sending the Lufthansa aircraft in its possession for the required checks and maintenance procedures.

ModiLuft has three 737-200s on lease from Lufthansa, out of which two were due for a mandatory servicing called `C' check from the third week of August.

The airline has already sent one of the two aircraft to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) facility at Bangalore and would send the other one once the first returns after a fortnight.

The checks at Bangalore are expected to cost the airline at least Rs 40 lakh. This amount will now be borne by ModiLuft as its technical agreement with Lufthansa is no longer valid.

 

ModiLuft has also sent one of the two Boeing 737-400 in its fleet to the UK for a `C' check. According to a Modiluft official, this aircraft is leased from Air UK and therefore has been sent to the lessor's base in Stansead, UK. Sources added that this aircraft would be sent to two separate facilities in UK for checks. While a part of the checks would be carried out at Shannon Aerospace, the remaining checks would be undertaken by FSL Facilities. This aircraft is expected to come back in service by October this year.

Servicing of the aircraft would not only mean major expenses for the cash-strapped airline, but would also lead to the airline having to forgo passenger revenue on each aircraft for at least two weeks. The airline now has five functioning aircraft. While two are B 737-400, the other three are B 737-200s. However, with two aircraft grounded for servicing, the airline is operating with only three aircraft. Consequently, ModiLuft has reduced the number of flights on certain routes.

It has already reduced its frequency on lucrative routes like Mumbai-Delhi, Delhi-Bangalore and Mumbai-Bangalore. On the Mumbai-Delhi route, the airline is flying only twice daily, against its earlier schedule of flying four times in the day. Similarly, the daily Bangalore-bound flights have now been curbed to only thrice a week.The reduction in flights is also due to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation directive which had asked ModiLuft to reduce its flights on trunk routes. This was because the airline was found lagging behind in fulfilling the DGCA norms.