Less than 15 aircrafts of debt-hit Jet Airways currently operational: Aviation Secy Kharola
New Delhi: Less than 15 aircraft of Jet Airways are currently operational, Civil Aviation Secretary P S Kharola said on Wednesday.
The SBI-led consortium of lenders had taken over the management of the cash-hit Jet Airways last month.
Asked about the active fleet of the beleaguered airline, the Civil Aviation Secretary said here that "yesterday, it was 28".
On the airline informing stock exchanges on Tuesday evening that 15 more aircraft have been grounded, Kharola said the current fleet "would be less than about 15".
The airline has around 119 aircraft in its fleet. In the last few weeks, the airline has been grounding its aircraft in tranches due to non-payment of dues to lessors.
Regarding funding issues of the airline, Kharola - who was speaking on the sidelines of an event - said, "The issue is between bankers and Jet management. So they are discussing with each other."
The private carrier Tuesday said it has grounded 15 more aircraft due to non-payment of rentals to lessors.
Till last month, the Mumbai-headquartered airline, which is now under the new ownership, had taken 54 planes out of operations due to lease rental defaults.
On March 25, Jet Airways' board approved a resolution plan formulated by SBI-led domestic lenders. Under the plan, lenders decided to take control of the airline and make a fund infusion of Rs 1,500 crore.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
KKR land Green for record-breaking Rs 25.20 crore; Shaw, Sarfaraz go unsold
Abu Dhabi (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders splurged a record-breaking Rs 25.20 to land top Australian all-rounder Cameron Green even as Indian stars Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan went unsold in the Indian Premier League players' auction here on Tuesday.
Green surpassed compatriot Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore) to become the most expensive overseas player at an IPL auction. This was after Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings were involved in an intense bidding war for him before the latter emerged winner.
KKR also went after Venkatesh Iyer before pulling out of the race against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who fetched the services of the India all-rounder for Rs 7 crore.
As far as Green is concerned, his salary for the season would still be Rs 18 crore (USD 1.9 million) as the rest of the amount will go towards the BCCI's player development programme as per the rules of the auction for foreign players.
Green, who previously turned up for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has so far played 29 matches in the IPL to aggregate 707 runs and take 16 wickets.
Shaw, however, went unsold despite his fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, and so was the case with Sarfaraz, who smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai on Tuesday.
Big-hitting South African batter David Miller was bought by Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, but New Zealand swashbuckler Devon Conway, whose base price was also Rs 2 crore, went unsold in the auction.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
A total of 359 players -- 246 Indians and 113 overseas players -- are part of the mini auction pool with the 10 franchises bidding to fill up a maximum of 77 slots, including 31 reserved for foreign players.
