Jet Airways operating around 28 planes, says Kharola

Cash-strapped Jet Airways is operating 28 planes, including 15 aircraft in the domestic routes, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Kharola said that less than 15 planes of the airline were flying.

Jet Airways, where the lenders are set to take control as part of a debt resolution plan, on Tuesday disclosed that it has grounded 15 more aircraft due to non-payment of lease rentals.

Asked about the active fleet of Jet Airways, Kharola, on the sidelines of an aviation conference in the morning, said, "yesterday, it was 28".

When told that the airline has announced grounding 15 more aircraft, he said that then the current fleet would be "less than about 15".

In the evening, Kharola clarified to PTI that Jet Airways is operating around 28 planes and out of them, about 15 are operating in the domestic routes.

On the sidelines of the conference here, the civil aviation secretary also said that Jet Airways' ability to fly international operations needs to be "examined".

In the afternoon, a DGCA spokesperson said Jet Airways continues to fly 28 aircraft as on date.

"The 15 aircraft reported is already accounted for and was only informed to the stock exchanges by Jet Airways yesterday," the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday evening, the airline informed the stock exchanges that it has grounded 15 more aircraft due to non-payment of lease rentals. Now, the total number of planes grounded on account of default in lease rental payments, as disclosed by the airline, stands at 69.

In a statement issued in the afternoon, Jet Airways said, "as informed to the regulator (DGCA), the airline is operating a curtailed schedule with sufficient number of aircraft, and is compliant with applicable guidelines".

The airline issued the statement saying that it would like to clarify certain speculative media reports with respect to its ability to operate on international routes.

It did not provide the number of operational planes.

Jet Airways, which is grappling with acute financial woes, had a fleet of around 119 planes.

On March 25, Jet Airways' board approved a debt-resolution plan under which the lenders would take control of the airline and also make an immediate fund infusion of Rs 1,500 crore.