The Maldives’ Civil Court has ordered GoAir to pay US$3.6 million (MVR 55.51 million) to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) in conjunction with a case filed by the state’s chief collections agency. MIRA’s case sought the amount as outstanding for airport service fees, departure taxes, and airport development fees under the Airport Taxes and Fees Act (29/2016).
The verdict was handed down on 3 June.
Under the Act, departure taxes are levied as US$12 for local passengers, US$30 for economy class, US$60 for business class, US$90 for first class and US$120 for passengers traveling on private planes.
Airport development fee are US$12 for local passengers, US$25 for economy class, US$60 for business class, US$90 for first class and US$120 for passengers traveling on private planes.
The civil court ruling ordered GoAir to pay the fees applicable between April 2022 and March 2023.
The case was argued, and sentencing concluded, in GoAir’s absence after three attempts at serving a notice to the company at their MIRA registered address — the Court noted that the company failed to appear even after a notice being served at their registered business address.
GoAir launched flights to the Maldives in October 2018. The airline suspended operations in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and later resumed service, only to discontinue flights to the country in March 2023.
The financially troubled airline filed for bankruptcy after many of its aircraft’s were grounded for days. From December 2022, 50 percent of the airline’s aircraft were grounded, leading to the cancellation of several domestic and international flights.
This is the first time that an Indian airline has declared bankruptcy since Jet Airways in 2019.