MUMBAI – Indian airline Air Vistara has paid a staggering fine of ₹70 lakh to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) though it claims that the payment was made under protest.
The fine was imposed as the airline did not operate the minimum number of mandated flights to underserved areas in India’s northeast region.
“As a law-abiding organisation and in compliance with the order, Vistara has paid the penalty under protest,” a spokesperson told the media.
“We also confirm to have deployed capacity in excess to the RDG (route dispersal guidelines) requirement since then, as we had been doing in the past,” the spokesperson added.
The official was of the opinion that as per the new Civil Aviation Policy 2016 which came into effect from Northern Winter 2017-18, trading of ASKMs has also been discontinued, which has restricted the options available to airlines to make any last-minute adjustments in such instances.
An airline official elaborated that the carrier could not operate one flight from Bagdogra airport because of its closure. It is to be clarified that the fine was imposed in October 2022 after the airline failed to comply with the rules in April last year.
Vistara is a joint venture of Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA), with Tata Sons holding 51% stake in partnership.
