Jet Airways a step closer to relaunch, gets security clearance from home ministry

Jet Airways. File pic

The Union home ministry has granted security clearance to Jet Airways that is planning to relaunch commercial flight operations in the next few months, according to an official document.

The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium is currently the promoter of Jet Airways. The airline in its old avatar was owned by Naresh Goyal and had operated its last flight on April 17, 2019. Last Thursday, the airline conducted its test flight to and from the Hyderabad airport in a step towards obtaining the air operator certificate.

A letter sent by the civil aviation ministry to the airline on May 6 informed it about the grant of the security clearance by the Union home ministry. The letter, which has been accessed by PTI, said it is "directed to refer to your application to convey security clearance for change in shareholding pattern of the company/firm, for scheduled operator permit, on the basis of security clearance received from the Ministry of Home Affairs".

"The security clearance can, however, be withdrawn any time in the light of any adverse inputs, if so received from the Ministry of Home Affairs in future," it added. The letter was also sent to aviation safety regulator DGCA and aviation security regulator BCAS. Last Thursday's test flight was conducted to prove to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that the aircraft and its components are operating normally.

After the test flight, the airline has to conduct proving flights after which the DGCA will grant the air operator certificate. Proving flights are similar to commercial flight with DGCA officials and airline officials as passengers and cabin crew members on board. Financial distress forced Jet Airways, which flew for more than two decades, to suspend operations on April 17, 2019 and a consortium of lenders, led by State Bank of India (SBI), filed an insolvency petition in June 2019 to recover outstanding dues worth over Rs 8,000 crore. In October 2020, the airline's Committee of Creditors (CoC) approved the resolution plan submitted by the consortium of the UK's Kalrock Capital and the UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan. In June 2021, this resolution plan was also approved by the National Company Law Tribunal.

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