The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a notice to Air Pegasus asking why its licence should not be suspended. The airline stopped operations in August. Air Pegasus, however, said it has not received any notice.

“There has been a degradation in the capability of the airline as its three aircraft are grounded and some pilots have also left. If it is proved that there has been a degradation ... then it is violating its licence conditions,” a senior DGCA official told newspersons here on Friday, when asked why the notice was being issued.

The airline has been given 15 days to respond to the DGCA notice, which was sent on October 5.

“We are not in receipt of a show cause notice from DGCA. However, we have discussed this in depth with DGCA and will be presenting to them a concrete action plan as to how we intend to restart our operations,” the airline’s MD Shyson Thomas, said in a statement. “We are hopeful of starting operations by early November.”

White knight

In another development, sources in the airline said the promoters have been able to find an investor to pull it out of its current crisis. The sources said an Abu Dhabi-based family that runs a chain of hospitals is set to pick up a 40 per cent stake in the airline for about ₹40 crore.

Bengaluru-based Air Pegasus suspended operations after leasing companies decided to take back aircraft due to non-payment of charges.

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