Indian regional carrier FlyBig has grounded its ATR 72 fleet, which has resulted in a complete operational disruption causing inconvenience to many passengers. Lets have a quick look on full situation.
FlyBig & its fleet
FlyBig currently has a fleet of 4 aircraft – 2 ATR 72 and 2 DHC-6 Twin Otter. Out of the 2 Twin Otters, only 1 is operational right now as the second one arrived just last month. Operational Twin otter is registered as VT-KHU, while non-operational with VT-HIT.
Within last week, the airline was forced to ground its ATR fleet. When asked by Sentinel Assam, CEO Sanjay Mandavia said that the airline had to pause ATR operations due to supply chain issues. Furthermore, he added that there were some concerns raised by lessors. Both ATR aircraft – VT-TMT & VT-TMC are currently at Hyderabad Airport undergoing maintenance.
Operational disruption
FlyBig operates in mainly 2 regions in India. First is the Northeast region, where the airline operates scheduled flights between Guwahati, Rupsi, Hollongi & Tezu. The airline used its ATR fleet for this purpose. Second region is the North India. Here, the airline connects Delhi with Dehradun, Bathinda & Ludhiana. These flights are mostly operated by 19 seater Twin Otter.
Due to the complete grounding of ATR fleet, Northeast connectivity has vanished. Few airports have been fully abandoned. However, the airline says that it will deploy the Twin Otter in the Northeast region. It is unclear whether the airline will deploy 2nd Twin Otter – VT-HIT or the already operational one. VT-HIT is currently under process of acquiring airworthiness certificate.
Full recovery when?
FlyBig is anticipating delivery of a big aircraft by the end of January 2024. It is unclear that which type the airline will receive. With delivery of that aircraft, the Indore headquartered airline will resume regular operations to both North Indian & Northeast region.
By the same time, it is looking to return the currently grounded fleet back to operational status. We can say that going by official comments, the airline will do full recovery by the end of January 2024.
But it is India & FlyBig is a regional airline. The chemistry between both has not been the best in history. It will be interesting to see whether FlyBig returns to regular operations or gets the similar fate like TruJet.
Featured Image Credit : FlyBig Airlines via Facebook
Source : Sentinel Assam
