Jet Airways offers two Boeing aircraft for evacuation of stranded Indians

• Jet Airways could supply up to four aircraft for evacuation missions within a reasonable period of time
• Jet Airways has been grounded for a year due to lack of funds

New Delhi/Mumbai: Jet Airways (India) Ltd, which has been grounded for a year now because of lack of funds, has offered two of its Boeing 777 wide-body aircraft for evacuation operations of Indians stranded abroad under the Vande Bharat Mission.

Jet Airways could supply up to four aircraft for evacuation missions within a reasonable period of time, Ashish Chhawchharia, who was appointed as the resolution professional to carry out the insolvency process for the airline by lenders, wrote to corporate affairs secretary Injeti Srinivas. A copy of the letter dated 20 May was reviewed by Mint.

Jet Airways will need funds for the proposed evacuation flights, Chhawchharia said. The airline’s fleet at present stands at 12 aircraft, which are either owned outright or under financing arrangement.

“Out of the existing fleet one Airbus A330-200 aircraft is being operated by Air Serbia under sub-lease agreement, while one Boeing 777-300ER aircraft is currently parked in Amsterdam. The remaining 10 aircraft are parked at various airports across India," Chhawchharia said.

Jet’s Air Operator’s Certificate must be activated and amended to reflect the current fleet size and the airline should be immediately allowed to carry out maintenance work by the ministry of civil aviation and the directorate general of civil aviation, Chhawchharia added.

Jet Airways was grounded on 18 April 2019 due to acute fund crunch. On 20 June 2019, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted Jet under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code after lenders referred it to the bankruptcy tribunal.

The deadline for completion of Jet Airways’s insolvency resolution process has been extended to 21 August because of the ongoing lockdown. Earlier this month, fresh expressions of interest for the airline were invited and the deadline for submission is 28 May.

rhik.k@livemint.com

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