Shares of cash-strapped airline Jet Airways jumped 5 per cent to hit the upper circuit at Rs 50.80 apiece on BSE in Monday’s intra-day trade after the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC), the winning bidder for the operator, said it has received the regulator’s extension to operate the airline.
In comparison, the BSE Sensex was up 0.26 per cent. Stocks of other players SpiceJet and IndiGo held nominal gains, rising 0.26 per cent each, at the time of this report.
As per a statement by JKC, the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has renewed the airline’s air operator certificate (AOC).
An AOC is the permission to operate an air transport service to, from and within India.
The AOC of Jet Airways was revalidated on May 20 last year for a one-year period. However, since the airline did not start operations, its AOC expired on May 19, 2023, and there was no word from the consortium on the status of the airline’s flying permit, as per reports.
The renewal of AOC revalidates the confidence of the Indian aviation regulator in the revival of Jet Airways, JKC said.
The airline stopped operating in April 2019 amid huge losses, debt and dues. It was admitted for insolvency proceedings by the National Company Law Tribunal in June 2019. Jalan-Kalrock consortium’s resolution plan was approved in June 2021.
However, the airline’s creditors and the consortium have remained stuck in a stalemate.
In the NCLAT, lenders said that the JKC has not infused any money to repay creditors while JKC said the lenders have thwarted the transfer of the airline’s ownership and are not letting the consortium commence operations even after they have secured all the requisite permissions.
The NCLAT said it will hear the final round of arguments on August 7.
First Published: Jul 31 2023 | 12:18 PM IST