Jet Airways shares gain five per cent, continue to fly high after Jalan Kalrock Consortium bid

NEW DELHI: Shares of Jet Airways extended their rally to Wednesday, gaining 5 per cent, after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave its nod to the Jalan Kalrock Consortium's bid for the airline.

The stock jumped 4.98 per cent to Rs 104.40 -- its upper circuit limit -- for the day on both BSE and NSE. On Tuesday also, Jet Airways shares jumped nearly 5 per cent.

Two years after Jet Airways went bankrupt, the National Company Law Tribunal on Tuesday gave its nod to the Jalan Kalrock Consortium's bid for the airline and the resolution professional is hopeful that the carrier will be back in the skies by the end of this year.

While the detailed written order is awaited, the tribunal made it clear that it will not give any direction on the issue of airport slots for the airline, saying that the matter will be handled by the government or the appropriate authority concerned.

Financial distress forced Jet Airways, which flew for more than two decades, to suspend operations on April 17, 2019, and a consortium of lenders, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), filed an insolvency petition in June 2019, to recover outstanding dues worth over Rs 8,000 crore.

Jet Airways has been undergoing a resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) for two years.

Ashish Chhawchharia, who has been managing the affairs of Jet Airways as the resolution professional, described the NCLT nod as one of the biggest turnaround events for the beleaguered aviation sector and hoped that the airline will be back in the skies by the end of this year provided everything goes well.

Shares of the airline have lost more than half of their value since it suspended operations in April 2019.