EaseMyTrip CEO Nishant Pitti, one half of a two-man band attempting to acquire India's insolvent Go First (GOW, Mumbai International), has withdrawn his offer, posting on X on May 25 that "we have decided to withdraw from the GoAir bid to concentrate on our core areas of strength." He had teamed up with Ajay Singh, managing director of SpiceJet, to try to buy Go First, and it is not immediately clear if Singh will now try to buy the defunct carrier on his own.
The Pitti/Singh duo had been competing with a rival bid by Sharjah-based Sky One to buy Go First. Both parties had pitched bids that Go First's resolution professional/administrator and creditors' committee considered too low and too reliant on an as-yet undecided lawsuit against Pratt & Whitney delivering a cash windfall. In March, the parties made some tweaks to their initial bids. The following month, the Delhi High Court ordered the deregistration of aircraft placed at Go First and their return to their owners, significantly eroding the airline's capacity to restart and its resale value.
"We will evaluate our position and consider any necessary adjustments to our proposed offer for Go Air," Pitti posted to X at the time. "Our commitment remains to proceed in a manner that respects the legal process and aligns with our strategic objectives."
Meanwhile, the increasing likelihood that Go First will face liquidation rather than a resale has rival airlines scrambling to acquire its slots and flying rights permanently. Earlier this month, ch-aviation reported that India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation had temporarily reassigned Go First's slots over the 2024 Northern Summer and 2024/25 to other carriers, primarily to Air India, Vistara, IndiGo Airlines, and Akasa Air. Indian media outlets are now citing unnamed airline officials as saying they would ask for permanent rather than temporary slot assignments now that interest in acquiring Go First is evaporating.
