New Delhi: In a major setback for Go First, Delhi High Court has directed Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to move on with the process of deregistering aircraft leased by the airline within next five working days.
The low-cost Indian airline, founded as Go Air in 2005, declared bankruptcy in May 2023.
With the court order deregistration of all 54 planes and restricting Go First from operating these aircraft, all hopes of a comeback have been shattered.
The aircraft lessors — Pembroke Aviation, Accipiter Investments Aircraft 2, EOS Aviation and SMBC Aviation — had approached Delhi High Court last May to ask for permission to reclaim their planes.
DGCA initially said it couldn’t release the aircraft as a moratorium was in place.
However, in October 2023, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MoCA) issued a notification which said rules of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code won’t apply to aircraft-related agreements.
DGCA had been waiting for the court’s decision to implement the Ministry directive.
While the case was in court, two bids were made to buy Go First.
One of the offers, made by SpiceJet chief Ajay Singh and Busy Bee Airways, offered Rs 1,600 crore to acquire the airline. The other bid was from Sharjah-based Sky One.
The lenders are yet to decide on the offers.
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