IndiGo said that it is still actively talking with India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regarding a fine for numerous tail strike incidents that have occurred over the past few months.
“We are in receipt of a notice from DGCA imposing penalty of Rs 30 lakhs [$36,480] on the Company,” the low-cost carrier’s statement read, adding that IndiGo is still “in discussions with the DGCA on this matter”.
As such, the airline will “file our response as per the prescribed timelines for such notice”.
Since January 2023, four of IndiGo’s Airbus A321neo aircraft, registered as VT-ILR, VT-IML, VT-IMG, and VT-IMW, were involved in tail strike incidents at four different airports across India.
The latest occurrence, involving VT-IMW, happened on June 15, 2023, when the aircraft was on IndiGo flight 6E6595 from Bengaluru Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) to Ahmedabad International Airport (AMD). The aircraft struck its tail while landing on the runway before taxiing onto the apron, according to The Aviation Herald.
VT-IMW is still at AMW at the time of writing. Other aircraft that were involved in tail strike incidents throughout the year have rejoined IndiGo’s active fleet.
IndiGo has become one of the fastest airlines in the country, with the carrier having 63.2% of the domestic market share in June 2023. Its closest rival was Air India, with a 9.7% market share during the same month. In comparison, in June 2022, IndiGo’s domestic market share was 56.3%, while Air India’s was 7.5%.
In May 2023, Go First, whose market share in June 2022 was 9.5% (6.4% in April 2023), has suspended operations, giving way for other airlines to carve out its former routes, including IndiGo.
The airline is set to grow further, as during the Paris Air Show in June 2023, IndiGo announced a record-breaking order for 500 Airbus A320neo family aircraft. Though Airbus Orders & Deliveries filings for June 2023 showed that the order’s composition was 125 A320neo and 375 A321neo aircraft, “the final split between A320neo and A321neo to be defined at a later date,” the manufacturer’s filings read.
