The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium is set to place a large aircraft order of around 200 jets, post the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) decision to grant ownership transfer, reports Mint.
As per sources, the order could be announced as early as June 2023.
“Jalan-Kalrock is in talks with aircraft OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to place an order of at least 200 planes of mix small, medium and large narrow body jets at the Paris airshow in June for their growth plan for five years," quoted one of the people close to the management team.
The airline has planned its fleet as a mix of narrowbody and widebody aircraft to tap the huge potential of the growing Indian civil aviation market. The airline is in planning process of the routes connecting metros to smaller Tier II and Tier III towns.
A few months back, Airline Economics had reported that the airline was in talks with Airbus and Boeing for a large order. However, the order was not finalised due to opposition from lenders.
Experts believe that considering the debts and the financial burden on several Indian carriers it would be advisable to kick-start the operation with a smaller fleet and ramp up the capacity with increasing demand.
“One key element for the airline business is the long-term availability of equipment optimised for the planned network at the most economical cost. Any order from Jet Airways has to be sufficient numbers and different types of aircraft to ensures Jet Airways will have the right size equipment to support its planned network. We believe Jet Airways will need between 250-300 Aircraft order to support its 8-10 years induction plan," said Vishok Mansingh, CEO, Vman.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) refused to stay an NCLT order of January 13, 2023 which allowed Jet Airways Limited’s ownership transfer to the Jalan-Kalrock consortium.
The lenders had moved the NCLAT challenging the NCLT order on February 8, 2023. Consortium and lenders have been at loggerheads over implementing the resolution plan approved in June 2021, delaying the airline’s launch.
“The plan needs to be implemented as approved by the NCLT," the NCLAT bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said, declining to entertain the lenders’ plea. It had further added that the lenders must move forward in implementing the resolution plan without further delay.
If the Jet Airways order is finalised, India will lead the global aviation market in record aircraft orders post pandemic, with Air India’s 470 aircraft order, soon to be followed by three-digit order from Akasa Air and IndiGo to follow suit.