India's Jet Airways would be acquired by an investor consortium under a multimillion-dollar resolution plan approved by the carrier's creditors on Saturday.
The plan submitted by a consortium of London-based Kalrock Capital and businessman Murari Lal Jalan, the chairman of Dubai-based property firm MJ Developers, comes after months of talks over the airline's future and was confirmed in a regulatory filing, which gave no details of the deal.
A source close to the situation said the new owners had agreed to pump in 10 billion rupees ($136 million) as working capital for the revival of the airline. Another 10bn rupees will be given to creditors over a period of five years.
Financial creditors of the airline will also get a 10 per cent stake in the company, the source said, although the plan remains subject to approvals from the bankruptcy court and the country's airline regulator.
Jet – which operated a fleet of more than 120 planes serving dozens of domestic destinations and international hubs such as Singapore, London and Dubai – was forced in April 2019 to ground all flights, crippled by mounting losses as it attempted to compete with low-cost rivals.
After Jet halted operations at least 280 slots were vacant in Mumbai and 160 in Delhi, which were then given to its rivals. The revival plan is also based on getting some of these slots back.
"The plan is to ramp up slowly and to increase capacity gradually as they will be starting afresh," the source said. Any resumption of flights will likely not happen for between three and six months at least.
Since its operations were halted the airline and its lenders had been looking for suitors. Jet’s financial and operational creditors were owed nearly 300bn rupees after the operations were halted.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The five pillars of Islam
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
The biog
Age: 32
Qualifications: Diploma in engineering from TSI Technical Institute, bachelor’s degree in accounting from Dubai’s Al Ghurair University, master’s degree in human resources from Abu Dhabi University, currently third years PHD in strategy of human resources.
Favourite mountain range: The Himalayas
Favourite experience: Two months trekking in Alaska
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
