An Indian bankruptcy court ruled on Tuesday (22 June) that Jet Airways India can hit the skies again under new ownership more than two years after it collapsed. Jet Airways was once India’s biggest private carrier but filed for bankruptcy in 2019. Dubai-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan and Kalrock Capital Management in London laid out a rescue plan pledging in December that the airline would fly again by this summer, operating its historic domestic slots as well restarting international routes, according to media reports.
Jet Airways has almost 21,000 creditors seeking claims of around US$6 billion. It has lost most of its landing slots in the time it hasn’t being flying. Jet had started as an air taxi operator on May 5, 1993, with a fleet of four leased Boeing 737-300 aircraft. The airline, which got listed on domestic bourses in February 2005, operated its first international flight from Chennai to Colombo in March 2004.
CNBC-TV18 reported earlier Tuesday that Jet Airways needs to apply for slots within 90 days and the aviation regulator will make a final decision on allotting them. Investors remained optimistic about the airline successfully emerging from a restructuring, sending its shares up 316 percent in 2020 despite the crisis in aviation. Still, they remained far off peaks hit during the previous decade. Jet Airways rose 5% on Tuesday following a similar gain the previous day.
S to NDTV, Ashish Chhawchharia, the Grant & Thornton Resolution Manager appointed by the Kalrock-Jalan consortium said that 20 narrow-bodied and five wide-bodied aircraft will be initially inducted to get the airline flying. A total of 20 routes will be started to begin with.
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