A joint venture of Tata group and Malaysian Air Asia, AirAsia India is planning to induct some of the Jet Airways’ Boeing 737s that have now been repossessed by lessors. The move comes at the time when full-service Vistara is also planning to induct some of Jet’s Boeing 737s in its fleet.
AirAsia India Pvt Ltd’s (AAIPL) flying license has listed Airbus fleet for its operations. The low-cost carrier (LCC) has applied for operating Boeing aircraft and the ex-Jet B737s to aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), according to a ToI report.
It is to be noted that currently, AAIPL has 20 Airbus A320s and may also add five more of these planes. It is looking at ex-Jet B737s as well. The suspension of operations by Jet Airways has suddenly freed up slots at India’s busiest airports- Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. The government has linked a temporary granting of these slots to other airlines’ to add to the capacity and to help to control the fares. The domestic market shares of AAIPL was 5.9 percent and that of Vistara was 4.2 percent in March 2019.
This summer, AAIPL will complete its five years and become eligible to fly abroad. Full-service Vistara has already got government’s nod to fly abroad. Vistara was the first private carrier to get permission for overseas flights under the amended rules. In 2016, the government amended the 5/20 rule, which required an airline to complete fives years of operations and has 20 planes in its fleet, to fly abroad to 0/20.
Worth mentioning here is that Jet Airways had a significant number of flights to the Gulf and Southeast Asia, and bilateral to both these places had been exhausted. If in the coming weeks and months, Jet Airways does not revive then its rights for international flights would also be distributed to other airlines.
Air India was also looking at ex-Jet B777s and AI Express at B737s, but so far they have not taken these planes.
In a circular dated April 25, Pawan Hans management stated to its employees that the company is not in a position to disburse employees’ salaries for the April month due to the uncomfortable financial position in Pawan Hans.
