NEW DELHI: Rekindling Hope for Jet Airways To fly again, the airline’s committee of creditors on the ground since last April approved a revival plan presented by a London-based consortium of Kalrock Capital and UAE businessman Murari Lal Jalan.
The airline can fly in the middle of next year if this joint venture is able to raise the necessary funds through a combination of measures such as the injection of capital of approximately Rs 1000 crore; sell the six old jets owned by Jet to get some new ones and offer shares to the lenders.
While financial problems for Jet had started to worsen two years ago, India’s oldest private airline that began operating in May 1993 ran out of funds completely last year and had its last flight on April 18, 2019. , days before his 26th birthday. Attempts have since been made to get the airline to fly again.
Ashish Chhawchharia, Jet’s resolution professional, said in a regulatory filing on Saturday: “… the final resolution plans submitted by two resolution applicants were discussed by committee of creditors (CoC) members … (and) submitted electronic voting … the voting concluded today (October 17) and the resolution plan presented by Murari Lal Jalan and Florian Fritsch has been approved by the CoC… ”Now, the resolution professional is seeking final approval from the National Court of Company Law.
Once approved by the NCLT, the winning consortium will start the process for Jet to take off again, raising the required funds, obtaining a fleet and seeking the return of the spaces according to the requirement that was given to other airlines after last April.
While the creditors and employees made claims of more than Rs 40,000 million, the PR admitted claims of Rs 15,525 million. Jet, which had its first flight from Mumbai (to Ahmedabad) on May 5, 1993, saw its last flight to Mumbai (from Amritsar) on April 17, 2019.
However, whether Jet takes off again depends on the ability of the winning consortiums to raise the necessary resources, as airlines are a very cash-intensive business. Responsibility now rests with the joint venture of European businessman Kalrock Capital, a financial advisory and asset management company founded by Florian Fritsch, and Dubai-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan.
The other resolution plan was presented by an Imperial Capital-FSTC consortium that is launching a new airline in India called Fly Big. This airline has won some routes under a regional connectivity scheme and will operate them with turboprops.
.
