UAE-based Indian businessman Murari Lal Jalan-led Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC)’s plans to re-launch grounded Indian airline Jet Airways hit an air pocket, with the carrier’s lenders approaching the country’s appellate bankruptcy court to block the airline’s ownership transfer to the consortium.
The lenders – mostly Indian banks – filed an appeal with the appellate court on Monday, seeking a stay on the recent order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that allowed the transfer of the airline’s ownership to the consortium, the Economic Times reported, citing unnamed sources.
The JKC consortium won a second chance to relaunch the grounded Jet Airways when NCLT granted it a six-month extension on January 13 to make payment and take effective control of the carrier.
India’s grounded Jet Airways
Earlier, the tribunal, which approved the consortium’s proposal to take over Jet Airways, had set November 16, 2022 as the effective date to pay dues to various creditors.
The NCLT had approved the transfer of Jet Airways’ ownership on January 13, despite the lenders’ contention that the consortium had not fulfilled all condition precedents – including securing the airline’s domestic flight slots and international traffic rights – as proposed in the resolution plan.
The ET report, quoting a senior banker, said the resolution plan cannot be implemented till the Directorate General of Civil Aviation grants approval for parking slots and the purchase of aircraft.
“If this approval does not come now, we don’t see how the company will start operations,” the banker said.
The consortium, which got the NCLT green signal in June 2021, was originally planning to commence operations in September last.
Jet Airways also announced starting the process for hiring pilots for various aircraft types, ahead of its proposed re-launch plan.
“Jet Airways 2.0 aims at restarting short-haul international operations by the third-fourth quarter of 2022,” Jalan, the proposed non-executive chairman of Jet Airways, Jalan said last year.
He also said the airline would first commence with domestic operations in India ahead of starting international operations.
“Our plan is to have over 50 aircraft in three years and more than 100 in five years, which will fit perfectly well with the short-term and long-term business plan of the consortium. The aircraft are being selected based on competitive long-term leasing solutions,” Jalan had said then.
Mid-last year, Reuters reported that Jet Airways was near a deal to buy 50 A220 jets from Airbus.
Currently, the once largest Indian airline by market share is said to have just one operational aircraft – a B737NG, in its fleet.
Jet Airways’ commercial operations stayed suspended from April 17, 2019 as it flew into bankruptcy.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways held a 24 percent equity stake in Jet Airways when the carrier was grounded due to mounting debts and went into insolvency.
Murari Lal Jalan, the UAE-based entrepreneur, who runs multiple businesses including paper, mining, trading, FMCG, and renewable energy, earlier expressed the confidence that Jet Airways would make a strong comeback.
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