16.01.2023 - 05:03 UTC
Blue Dart Aviation (BZ, Chennai) has secured near unanimous shareholder approval to acquire two B737-800(F)s from DHL Express, which, according to Cargo Facts, are likely to be ex-SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International) units.
The German logistics firm, which is a 75% shareholder and a commercial partner of Blue Dart Aviation, acquired the two B737-800(BCF)s from Spectre Air Capital in December 2022. N901JK (msn 30474) and N605JJ (msn 30475) were ferried from Naples Capodichino to East Midlands in mid-December and remain at the British airport, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. They were retired by SpiceJet in August and September, when the airline chose a fleet of three B737-700(BDSF) for its cargo unit, SpiceXpress.
Blue Dart Aviation sought shareholder consent to acquire two B737-800 freighters in late November. At that time, it estimated the total cost of the transaction to be approximately INR4.1 billion rupees (USD50 million). In a Bombay Stock Exchange filing on December 23, it said that 85.1% of all shareholders and 99.9% of voting...
10.01.2023 - 03:12 UTC
Mumbai-based private equity firm Convergent Finance and former Kingfisher Airlines executive Manoj Chacko have announced the formation of Fly91 (Goa Dabolim), a new Indian regional airline that aims to begin operations by December 2023.
In a joint statement, the parties said Convergent Finance and funds advised by the firm would anchor Fly91's initial INR2 billion rupee (USD24.3 million) investment.
UDO Aviation Private Limited, a holding company set up by Chacko that owns Fly91, has applied for a No Objection Certificate and for requisite security clearances from the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation. According to Chacko, Fly91 will operate a young fleet of ATR72-600s.
Fly91 aims to operate in the short-haul segment (45 and 90-minute flights), serving underserved regional airports under the Indian government's Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). Commercial operations will debut from Goa Dabolim, which will be the start-up's first base. The region is one of India's most popular tourist destinations.
Convergent Finance Managing Partner Harsha Raghavan will be Fly91's chairman, and Chacko will be the airline's chief executive officer....
05.01.2023 - 01:45 UTC
The role of the current Jet Airways (9W, Mumbai International) CEO has been clarified after a member of airline's monitoring committee objected to him using the title and speaking publicly about Jet Airways until the ownership transition to the Kalrock Capital-Murari Lal Jalan consortium (JKC) is finalised.
Multiple India-based media sources are reporting that Ashish Chhawchharia, the non-voting head of the seven-person
Jet Airways monitoring committee, sent an email to Sanjiv Kapoor on Monday, January 2, 2023, asking him to cease speaking out about the airline and using the CEO title.
The well-respected Kapoor, who has worked as chief operations officer (COO) for SpiceJet, COO for Vistara, and most recently as president of Oberoi Hotels, was appointed to the top job at Jet Airways in March 2022 by JKC. On occasion since then, he has spoken on the record to clarify reports concerning the airline's prolonged ownership transition.
Also highly-regarded, Chhawchharia is head of restructuring services and a partner at Grant Thornton in India. He was appointed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)...
27.12.2022 - 02:59 UTC
SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International) has proposed to turn lessors into potential investors in a debt-to-equity scheme aimed at clearing INR25 billion rupees (USD302 million) in unpaid aircraft lease payments, reports India's Economic Times.
If lessors agree, the plan involves a two-step transaction: The company will first transfer its cargo undertaking to a newly created subsidiary, SpiceXpress, which will then issue compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) to the parent, Then, SpiceJet will offer lessors the option to swap lease payments with the CCDs. This will make them investors in the cargo arm with the option of taking an equity stake in it at a future date, according to well-placed unnamed sources cited by the newspaper.
According to the latest financial data, SpiceJet had short-term and long-term lease liabilities totalling INR70 billion (USD845.6 million) in the quarter that ended September 2022. However, not all of these are due for payment. The sources said the plan was to clear the immediate dues of the lessors amounting to INR25 billion (USD302 million). The proposal has been made to about...
