Jet Airways all set to take off again next year

The consortium led by UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan — which has won the bid to revive plan Jet Airways — said on Monday it expects to relaunch the grounded airline by the summer of 2021.

Jet Airways 2.0 will start operations with domestic and international flights almost two years after the cash-strapped full-service carrier stopped flying under a huge debt pile-up.

The consortium, which includes UK's Kalrock Capital, said in a statement that the airline would continue with “an energised” Jet Airways brand.

“As per the resolution plan, Jet Airways intends to operate all of its historic domestic slots in India and restart international operations. If everything goes as per plan and the consortium receives the to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and regulatory approvals on time, Jet Airways would be back in the skies by the Summer of 2021,” said the statement.

The resolution plan of the consortium was recently approved by Jet’s committee of creditors. It still awaits approval from India’s bankruptcy court NCLT. The resolution proceedings went on for more than a year before Jet found a new investor in the Jalan-Kalrock consortium.

Jet stopped operating in April last year. “The Jet 2.0 hubs will remain Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru like before. The revival plan proposes to support Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by creating sub-hubs in such cities,” said the statement.

The consortium plans to start a dedicated air freight service under Jet.

"Jet Airways has been a brand with a glorious history of over 25 years, and it is the vision of the consortium to put Jet Airways back in the skies at the earliest opportunity. We aim to re-energise the brand by infusing energy, warmth, and vibrancy into it while making it bigger and better,” said Jalan-Kalrock consortium board member Manoj Narender Madnani.

“Over the years, the brand has created loyal customers and we wish to bring in freshness by adding value – an Indian brand with a global outlook, warm yet professional which symbolises the New India, Young India. With the revival of Jet Airways, it will restore the confidence among the Jet customers to fly again and experience its world-class facilities,” said Madnani.

As per the Rs10 billion revival plan submitted by the Jalan-Kalrock consortium, the new owners would infuse Rs3.8 billion in phases in the first two years after the re-launch of the airline and follow it up with an additional Rs5.8 billion over the next three to five years.

Lenders to the carrier will get 9.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent stake respectively in the airline and its passenger miles company. Financial creditors will also reportedly get 10 per cent free cash flows.

The consortium plans to commence operations with six aircraft domestically, then adding one aircraft each month, and plans to expand the fleet to 120 aircraft in five years. Currently, the airline has 12 aircraft on its books — nine wide-bodied planes and three narrow-bodied Boeing 737s.

Jet Airways, which had 16,000 employees when it stopped operating in April 2019, now has 3,300 on its rolls.

Jalan is an entrepreneur with investments in the UAE, India, Russia and Uzbekistan among others. Jalan‘s flagship construction company MJ Developers is based in Dubai.

issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi
• India