In a step ahead for the revival of embattled Jet Airways, the bankruptcy tribunal has approved the resolution plan of London-based Kalrock Capital and UAE-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday okayed the consortium’s plan subject to further approvals, as per a report by PTI.
The consortium has proposed to repay banks, financial institutions and employees around Rs 1,200 crore over next five years and plans to establish Jet Airways as a full-service airline with 30 aircraft with an investment of around Rs 1,375 crore over a two-year period.
The NCLT is yet to upload the final order.
However, it is understood that, as part of the revival plan, the tribunal has given 90 days to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and aviation ministry to allot slots to debt-laden Jet Airways.
While under insolvency, Jet Airways’ slots at major airports and its traffic rights were awarded temporarily to other airlines by the DGCA and the ministry last year. Its operating permit is dormant and would need to be made active and licences of pilots and engineers would need to be renewed.
In a recent affidavit submitted before the tribunal, the ministry of corporate affairs and DGCA had said Jet Airways could not claim historicity to obtain the slots and that allocation of slots would be done as per existing guidelines.
The approval by the NCLT was stuck since then.
Jet Airways had suspended operations on April 17, 2019 due to financial distress and has been undergoing a resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) since June that year.
In October 2020, a State Bank of India (SBI)-led Committee of Creditors (CoC) had approved the resolution plan by Dubai-based entrepreneur Jalan and German investor Florian Fritsch, who owns the UK-based financial advisory and alternative asset manager Kalrock Capital.
The airline owes more than Rs 8,000 crore ($1.08 billion) to banks and is facing claims of Rs 24,887 crore from various creditors including banks, suppliers and employees. The NCLT has admitted claims worth Rs 14,000 crore.
Jet Airways had started as an air taxi operator in May 1993, with a fleet of four leased Boeing 737-300 aircraft. The Naresh Goyal-founded airline became a scheduled carrier in 1995 and got publicly listed in February 2005.
