GoAir’s plan to place order with Airbus Industrie for 72 jets worth R32,400 crore ($7.2 billion) could run into a regulatory hurdle as per a report in the Financial Express.

The problem is that the airline has still not received prior in-principle approval from the civil aviation ministry as required by the law. Sources in the ministry said that the airline’s application seeking to place the orders is still pending before it.

In fact, the civil aviation ministry has asked the sector’s regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to find out as to how the airline placed the order.

“We have written to the DGCA to understand the actual position on the issue. The ministry has so far not accorded its in-principle approval to GoAir for importing aircraft and their application is pending,” an official source told FE.

GoAir had on June 16 announced in the Paris air show its order to buy 72 Airbus 320 Neo aircraft worth R32,400 crore ($7.2 billion). The low-cost airline currently operates 10 aircraft with an average age of two years connecting 18 domestic destinations. The airline is estimated to have clocked a turnover of $300 million in the financial year ending 2010-11.

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