NEW DELHI : India’s private airline SpiceJet has been ordered to fly only 50 percent of its flights for eight weeks by the country’s aviation regulator after a series of snags.

In a stringent decision issued against the airline on Wednesday, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said: “In view of findings of various spot checks, inspections and the reply to the show cause notice submitted by SpiceJet, for continued sustenance of safe and reliable air transport service, the number of departures of SpiceJet are restricted to 50% of the number of departures approved… for a period of eight weeks,” said the Director General of Civil Aviation in an order.

In less than 18 days, SpiceJet reported eight incidents of flight safety issues. “Any increase in the number of departures beyond 50 percent would be subject to the airline demonstrating to the satisfaction of DGCA that it has sufficient technical support and financial resources to safely and efficiently undertake such enhanced capacity”, the statement from DGCA said.