Beleaguered airline Jet Airways has grounded a "significant number" of aircraft, a senior Civil Aviation Ministry official said Wednesday. According to the official, the airline did inform the DGCA about the grounding and the regulator is monitoring the situation. Industry insiders said as many as 8 aircraft have been grounded due to non-payment to lessors and the number might increase in the coming days. Earlier, the airline had informed the stock exchanges it has grounded 5 aircraft. The grounding of additional 3 planes has impacted around 15 flights. Some reports suggested airline may already have grounded more than 20 aircraft due to shortage of spare parts and inability to pay the lessors. This would mean a significant portion of the airlines' fleet of 123 aircraft remains grounded. <br/>