New Delhi Jet Airways (India) Ltd. will resume operations at the earliest with six narrow-body aircraft in 2022 after the revalidation of its Air Operator Permit, the new owners of the airline said.
The Jalan-Colorrock Consortium, which includes British investor Colorrock Capital Management and UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan, said in a statement that it has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to expedite the implementation of its resolution plan .
As per the plan approved by the NCLT in June 2021, the consortium wants to initiate payments to all stakeholders including former employees, workers, ticket claimants and lenders of Jet Airways.
“In its latest filing before the NCLT, the consortium notified December 22 as its plan ‘effective date’ and seeks to implement it in June 2021 as previously approved by the NCLT.”
Jet Airways, which was led by founder Naresh Goyal for more than 25 years, was shut down on 17 April 2019 due to running out of cash.
Last June, the NCLT approved the insolvency resolution plan submitted by Colorrock Capital and Jalan, paving the way for the airline’s revival.
The consortium has proposed to pay 1,183 crore to creditors over five years from the sale proceeds of assets and cash flows. It will also invest 600 crores for the first two years to repay the creditors.
The new owners have also offered to pay 131 crore, 193 crores, and 259 crore to financial creditors at the end of the third, fourth and fifth year respectively from the airline’s cash flows.
“As a full-service carrier, we aim to start domestic operations at the earliest in 2022 and look forward to creating history with the revival of Jet Airways,” Jalan said in the statement.
“The decision to invest in Jet Airways has been well thought out by me and Mr. Jalan, and we both feel that the time has come to follow the next steps of plan implementation as ordered by the NCLT,” said Florian said Fritsch, president, ColorRock Capital.
According to the statement, the consortium is working closely with the concerned authorities and airport coordinators on slot allocation, required airport infrastructure and night parking at major airports such as New Delhi and Mumbai.
“The company has received over 35,000 applications across job categories and the team is shortlisting candidates as per their business requirements,” it said.
“Jet Airways 2.0 has a new corporate office in Gurugram and the consortium is looking for a bigger office in Delhi-NCR to house the entire team in one office.”
The resumption of operations of Jet Airways has been delayed several times so far. Major issues like getting slots at major airports have been a challenge for the airline.
After the airline’s closure in 2019, the slots held by it at major airports such as New Delhi and Mumbai were redistributed to other airlines.
Lawyers representing the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation have argued that although the allocation of Jet’s slots to other airlines was temporary, they could not be withdrawn from them without any valid ground.
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