The Indian Ministry of Finance has waived customs rules for aircraft previously operated by Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International) to facilitate the takeover of the aircraft by other airlines, the Business Today has reported.

The Indian customs law, in general, would require all aircraft previously dry-leased by Jet Airways to be flown to the country of registration of the lessors and then imported again to India for a new customer. However, as Air India and SpiceJet have already expressed interest in taking over some aircraft, the government has decided to waive this requirement.

Air India is in talks to take over five B777-300(ER)s but could increase the number of aircraft to be added from Jet Airways at a later stage. In turn, SpiceJet has already committed to taking twenty-two B737-800s.

Meanwhile, the potential investors for Jet Airways have asked the consortium of creditors led by State Bank of India to take an 80% haircut of the airline's total debt of INR85 billion rupees (USD1.2 billion). The Economic Times has reported that the potential investors have also strongly criticised the banks' decision not to release interim funding, which directly led to the grounding.

"The investors are ready to provide funds. However, the lenders have made it overly challenging for any bid to work in the time frame required," a source said.

Etihad Airways, TPG Capital, Indigo Partners, and government-backed National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) have until May 16 to submit binding bids for the airline.

IANS newswire has further reported that the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) requested a "concrete and credible revival plan" from Jet Airways. The authority said that it "would endeavour to do its best to help the company revive its operations within the set regulatory framework".

Jet Airways is also in discussions with IATA regarding the airline's membership in the billing and settlement plan (BSP). The international organisation closed the airline's account on April 18. The airline is trying to at least clear the money stored on its BSP account for the purposes of refunds.