As the aviation sector eyes the prospect of air traffic returning to pre-COVID levels, airlines have slowly started expanding their fleets. The newly-formed Adani-backed airilne, Akasa, placed a $9 billion order for 72 Boeing 737 Max jets in November. Now, Jet Airways is reported to be in talks for $12 billion worth of aircraft from the same manfacturer.
Jet’s new owners, the UAE-based business Murari Lal Jalan and UK investment firm Kalrock Capital, told Bloomberg News that the company was looking to buy at least 100 narrow-body aircraft.
The group looks to invest $200 million through equity in Jet over the next six months.
It is an ambitious move forward for Jet. It was only in June that the Jalan-Kalrock consortium’s resolution plan for the struggling airline had been approved. Jet has not flown since April 2019 after it ran into a cash crunch.
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In a statement in September, Kalan outlined the company’s plans. “Jet Airways 2.0 aims at restarting domestic operations by Q1-2022, and short haul international operations by Q3/Q4 2022. Our plan is to have 50+ aircraft in 3 years and 100+ in 5 years which also fits perfectly well with the short-term and long-term business plan of the Consortium." The airline proposes to fly its first service from New Delhi to Mumbai.”
Captain Sudhir Gaur, the acting CEO of Jet Airways, explained the plans for the airline's main operating hubs. "Jet Airways will continue to have strong and significant presence in Mumbai where it will work from its 'Global One' office in Kurla. Jet Airways also has a state-of-the-art training centre located at Global One, which will be retained and used for in-house training for the Jet Airways team," Gaur said in the statement.