Jet Airways revival plan gets NCLT nod, shares hit 5% upper circuit

Jet Airways has almost 21,000 creditors seeking claims of around $6 billion.

Jet Airways can resume operations under a new owner more than two years after it collapsed, according to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday. Jet Airways, once India’s biggest private carrier, suspended operations in April 2019, due to financial distress and has been undergoing a resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) since then.

Jet Airway revival plan also included a dedicated freighter service and hubs in smaller cities beyond Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. (File Photo)

“They have to work together with the ministry officials and airports to obtain the slots. In some airports it may not be possible to operate the exact same slots,” Ashish Chhawchharia, the court-appointed professional running the carrier’s insolvency, told Bloomberg on Tuesday. “If everything goes well, we can hope by end of this year Jet Airways can fly again,” Chhawchharia said.

The revival plan also included a dedicated freighter service and hubs in smaller cities beyond Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

In June 2019, NCLT admitted the insolvency petition against Jet Airways filed by a consortium of UK's Kalrock Capital and UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan led by the State Bank of India. The Committee of Creditors (CoC) of the grounded airline in October 2020 approved the resolution plan submitted by the consortium.

Jet Airways, which has lost most of its landing slots in the time it hasn’t been flying, has almost 21,000 creditors seeking claims of around $6 billion. Investors remained optimistic about the airline successfully emerging from a restructuring, sending its shares soaring 316% in 2020 despite the industry being plunged into crisis.

(With agency inputs)