India’s Jet Airways eyes 1H21 restart

Jet Airways’ new owners want to restart operations as quickly as possible, potentially within four to six months, using a single-type fleet and domestic routes, a Board Member at lead investor Kalrock Capital told The Times of India. “We want to restart Jet Airways as soon as we are allowed to. There are very aggressive plans. This week itself, we are meeting aircraft lessors in Dubai. We will begin with domestic flights with a single plane type and are in talks with Boeing, Airbus, and aircraft lessors. In the second stage, we plan to have international flights with suitable aircraft (narrow- and wide-body mix),” Manoj N Madnani said. He added that the dormant Indian carrier would retain its brand, livery, and full-service business model. However, its new owners – a consortium of Liechtenstein-registered Kalrock Capital and local investor Murari Lal Jalan – hope to avoid the “complexities” that led to the carrier’s collapse in April 2019 under a gargantuan pile of debt. The new investors have reportedly pledged to inject INR10 billion rupees (USD135.6 million) in fresh funding into the airline.