Earlier, the DGCA told SpiceJet to operate only 50 per cent flights (File)
SpiceJet can now deploy its entire fleet if it wants, the aviation regulator DGCA has said, nearly three months after the regulator ordered the airline to operate only 50 per cent of its flights following a long list of safety incidents in a short period.
The airline can operate to its full capacity from October 30, news agency ANI reported quoting the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA.
As recent as October 12 when the 50 per cent flights cap was still in effect, a SpiceJet plane made an emergency landing in Hyderabad after detecting smoke in the cabin and the cockpit.
On top of this, SpiceJet has been facing operational and financial headwinds, leading to enhanced surveillance by the aviation regulator.
The airline owned by businessman Ajay Singh operates the only daily flights to Sikkim. Today, it announced it will stop flights on this route from October 30 due to "operational constraints".
In July, an unusually high number of incidents involving SpiceJet aircraft had prompted the aviation regulator to seek an explanation from the airline.
The DGCA had pointed out big gaps on how the airline had been functioning, from operating flights with "degraded safety margins", issues that pointed at "poor internal safety oversight" to vendors not being paid on time, leading to shortage of spare parts for the SpiceJet fleet.
Mr Singh had told NDTV the airline remains "100 per cent safe".