New Delhi. Delhi High Court has directed the Civil Aviation Regulatory Director General to dispose of de-registration applications of aircraft leased by airlines within five days. Besides, the High Court has also banned the troubled airline Go First from flying these planes. DGCA will have to take forward the process of canceling the registration of the aircraft leased by Go First within the next five working days. According to the decision of the High Court, the aircraft can be returned to the lessors.
Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju’s order rejected the request of the Resolution Professional (RP) to delay the implementation. Due to which Go First is in danger of losing all its 54 aircraft. If Go First does not immediately obtain a stay order in this case, its planes can be returned to the owner companies. According to a report by Money Control, the decision comes after a legal battle launched by aircraft lessors including Pembroke Aviation, Accipiter Investments Aircraft 2, EOS Aviation and SMBC Aviation. Who had filed a petition in the court demanding the return of the planes leased to the financially distressed airline.
The court’s decision effectively cancels DGCA’s previous communication of May 2023. Which had told the lessors that their applications to deregister the planes had been stopped due to the Go First crisis. It has been stated in the High Court order that it has been made mandatory for the lessors to provide the latest maintenance information of the aircraft. Additionally, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has now been entrusted with the task of liaising directly with lessors regarding export and airworthiness of equipment. Initially, DGCA cited inability to cancel the registration of the aircraft as the reason for the postponement.
However, a significant development occurred in October 2023 when the Ministry of Corporate Affairs issued a notification clarifying that aviation leases were exempted from the moratorium provisions under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). Bids for Go First were submitted by two separate entities in response to ongoing litigation. These include a consortium led by SpiceJet chief Ajay Singh and Nishant Pittie’s Busy Bee Airways and a separate bid proposal from Sharjah-based Sky One. GoFirst entered the insolvency resolution process in May last year following its voluntary application for bankruptcy.
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Tags: Airlines, Airline News, Airlines, DELHI HIGH COURT
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 26, 2024, 20:12 IST