India's flybig suspends flights as lessors repo planes

Lessors are moving to reclaim their aircraft from flybig after the regional carrier suspended its flights earlier this month. The airline only began operations three years ago and concentrated on connecting second-tier Indian cities, serving routes secured through the Indian government's UDAN regional aviation improvement scheme. flybig was operating one ATR72-500, two ATR72-600s, and two DHC-6-400s. In October, the airline returned the ATR72-500 (VT-FBA (msn 955)) to Avation by mutual agreement' having not used it for revenue flights since late August. flybig told Indian news outlets that the flight suspensions have occurred because their remaining aircraft went out of service for maintenance purposes. “flybig would like to emphasize that current events are a result of our decision to surrender the ATR - Avions de Transport Régional aircraft due to the aircraft’s technical issues,” flybig CFO Gokul Indani told the Hindu Business Line. He added that supply chain issues and difficulties securing spare parts had affected the fleet's operational efficiency, caused cancellations, and added to costs. "The decision to surrender the ATR aircraft was made due to a global shortage of spare parts, which has extensively affected the operational efficiency of our fleet, leading to increased costs and delays. This has forced us to pause our operations in certain sectors, including the Northeast. We remain operational in Hindon-Bathinda and other routes," a spokesman said.<br/>