British entrepreneur Jason Unsworth, who has shown interest in Jet Airways, says there is a need to save the slots and traffic rights if the airline is to be successful again.
Unsworth is the founder and CEO of the startup Atmosphere Intercontinental Airlines, which aims to start long haul premium flights from London Stansted Airport to South East Asian countries. Through an unverified twitter account, Unsworth had claimed on Monday that State Bank of India had confirmed that he can still submit his bid for the airline.
“The idea is to save what is left of the airline, such as the AOCs (air operator's certificate), traffic rights, slots, especially the long haul traffic rights, this is what would make Jet Airways successful again,” he said.
Jet Airways, once was the second largest carrier in India with a fleet of around 120 planes. The airline temporarily suspended operations last month after it failed to get the much needed funds for day to day operations. Salaries to Jet Airways employees were delayed and much of its fleet was grounded as it failed to pay back its lessors. The airline has a debt of around Rs 8,000 crore and a consortium of banks led by SBI is currently on the lookout for a new investor, after promoter Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita were nudged out of the airline’s board on March 25.
Expression of interest in Jet Airways was invited on April 9, with the lenders offering as much as 75 per cent stake in the carrier to potential investors.
Four entities—Etihad Airways, private equity firms TPG Capital and Indigo Partners and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund—were learnt to have submitted their interest in Jet Airways. Etihad held 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways. There is still no certainty of a formal bid, which had to be submitted by May 10, given that the airline’s operations have since been grounded, many of its slots have been given away to rival airlines, albeit temporarily, and some of its deregistered planes too have been leased out to other carriers.
Unsworth’s interest in Jet Airways was revealed last month after stock exchanges had sought a clarification on the same from the airline. Jet had advised him to formally engage with SBI Caps, which is leading the bidding process for the airline.
“Different reports suggesting that many Jet Airways aircrafts are still parked at Mumbai and Delhi airport. If paying off several banks and lessors can result in resuming domestic and international flights, then that will be the result I am hoping to achieve,” Unsworth wrote on Tuesday.
He had signed an MOU with US-based investor Future Trend Capital to bid for Jet Airways. Future Trend Capital had reportedly also backed Naresh Goyal’s privately held Jetair’s offer to invest in Jet Airways. However, Goyal backed out after protests from others bidders.
