Ahead of its planned relaunch, uncertainty continues to surround Jet Airways (Mumbai International) and its fleet plans. Late last week, the airline was forced to deny to the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) that it has leased an A320-200N. Less than one week later, there are new reports that three A320neo and two B737-8s are earmarked to join the fleet.
According to a CNBC report, negotiations are underway to secure the five aircraft via operating leases. Jet Airways has already begun recruiting pilots and cabin crew for both aircraft types. A company spokesman declined to comment when contacted by ch-aviation.
Last week, Jet Airways moved to hose down speculation it has leased an A320neo from Irish lessor Avolon. In an October 6 filing to the NSE, company secretary Neeraj Manchanda said no final decisions had been reached regarding the airline's fleet and that no reliance should be placed on what the letter termed "speculation and reports."
The stock exchange had asked the airline to respond to the leasing claims, specifically concerning the A320neo formerly registered as OE-IBQ (msn 10546) that was recently spotted in the carrier's livery at Maastricht. That aircraft, owned by Avolon, was due to go to S7 Airlines (S7, Novosibirsk) but was never sent due to ongoing sanctions on Russia.
In reference to that aircraft, Manchanda wrote that "neither the company nor its authorised representatives have made any media or public statements in relation to future fleet of aircrafts or lease thereof." However, the letter also said that "merely taking/giving one or two aircrafts on lease by any airline (as per news reports), should not be considered as material and it will not have major impact on the business or the industry."
Publicly, Jet Airways is maintaining it will start flights before the end of 2022. However, that appears contingent on the airline's new owners, the Kalrock Capital-Murari Lal Jalan consortium, breaking a deadlock with banks still owed money from the airline's 2019 bankruptcy. ch-aviation has recently reported that the consortium had agreed to put further capital into the airline and release the first tranche of payments now past due to the banks. In exchange, the banks had agreed to waive some pre-conditions to completing the ownership transition and issuing the no-objection certificate needed to finalise the restart.
