Jet gets IOC fuel; aircraft seized in Amsterdam (Roundup)

Even as the country's largest oil marketing company (OMC) Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) resumed fuel supply to Jet Airways, the woes of debt-ridden carrier are far from over as one of its aircraft was seized in Amsterdam over non-payment of dues.

A Europe-based cargo firm Worldwide Flight Services seized Jet's 777-300 ER at Schiphol Airport over outstanding dues on account of handling charges. The aircraft was supposed to operate the Amsterdam-Mumbai flight.

In a statement, the airline said that flight "9W 231 AMS BOM of 10th April 2019 has been delayed due to operational reasons."

However, the airline got some relief on the fuel front as the IOC resumed supply after stopping it from 3 p.m. on Wednesday over non-payment of dues, a senior IOC official said.

The fuel retailer, however, did not divulge details about any payment or assurance made by the cash-strapped airline over dues payments.

Nonetheless, industry insiders said that the lenders of the airline might have made a part-payment towards the dues.

The airline's operations were not effected during the day, as other retailers continued to supply fuel to its aircraft.

Last week, the IOC had stopped fuel supply to Jet Airways for some time before restarting the same after receiving assurances over payment of dues.

That time, some payments were said to have been made to the fuel retailer after the lenders provided an emergency funding relief of Rs 33 crore last Friday.

Apart from vendors, the airline's aircraft lessors too are upset with the current financial situation, with some of them requesting the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to de-register their aircraft leased to the company.

The de-registration request section on DGCA's website showed that lessors have applied to de-register 24 aircraft owing to unpaid dues.

The airline currently operates 26 aircraft, including Airbus A330s, Boeing 777s, 737-800 and ATRs, to various destinations like London, Toronto, Singapore, Amsterdam, Paris, Bangkok and domestic sectors like Mumbai-Delhi, among others.

The airline apparently owns 16 out of these 26 aircraft.

Jet Airways is in the midst of a severe liquidity crisis that has affected its operations and resulted in the grounding of several of its aircraft.

The latest development came on a day when lenders of the debt-ridden airline tweaked the terms for stake sale and also extended the submission deadline for Expression of Interest bids from prospective buyers.

At present, the airline owes over Rs 8,000 crore to a consortium of lenders led by the State Bank of India.

On Tuesday, the airline was served a legal notice by a section of its pilots demanding payment of salaries -- which is due since January 1, 2019 -- by April 14.

Subsequently, airline's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vinay Dube said that the company is working with the lenders on the balance sheet restructuring plan and will inform the employees about the progress of the process by early next week.

--IANS

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