The new year couldn't have started on a brighter note for the otherwise struggling domestic airlines, as the Narendra Modi-led government has reportedly deferred its order that all the aircraft imported should be equipped to receive signals of the indigenous navigation system GAGAN to June 30, 2020. Earlier, the government had set the deadline of January 1, 2019, for equipping all the planes registered in India with GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN). 

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The latest decision comes as a much-needed respite to the airlines who have already placed an order for new aircraft. The move will also benefit small planes like trainer aircraft and small business jets as equipping them with GAGAN would have cost about $3 lakh per plane, TOI reported quoting a senior aviation official. 

The deadline was reportedly deferred considering the cost implications and following a representation from the scheduled and non-scheduled airlines. The source said that the retrofitting the aircraft, used for pilot training, with GAGAN would cost more than the plane itself.

In another favourable development for the domestic airlines, oil companies have slashed the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices by 14.5 percent. The move came at a time when airlines were struggling to meet the higher fuel price and increasing expenses. Jet Airways is among the most badly-hit airlines and has defaulted on debt repayment to banks, deadline for the payment was December 31, 2018.

Jet Airways reported a net loss of Rs 1,292 crore for the quarter ended September 2018,  as against a net profit of Rs 46 crore a year ago. Most of the airlines in India reported a loss due to the elevated ATF price.

"ATF prices are being lowered about 14.5 Percent effective midnight today. Great respite for airline industry in India," AirAsia COO Sanjay Kumar Tweeted on Monday. With this cut, a kilolitre of ATF will now cost Rs 58,060 in Delhi against earlier Rs 68,050.