Lessors’ attempt to repossess aircraft from bankrupt airline Go First received a blow as the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) upheld an order passed by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitting the airline’s insolvency petition with a moratorium on its assets. However, NCLAT allowed the lessors to approach NCLT and the interim resolution professional to move to NCLT to get a declaration about the aircraft and how their possession would be affected due to the moratorium.
The order is a breather for Go First, which is planning to restart flights from May 27 with 10-15 aircraft as it does not put any injunction on the use of aircraft. The airline has rostered crew and informed travel agents about the plan.
“The order admitting insolvency petition is upheld. The appellants, as well as IRP, are at liberty to make appropriate application before the adjudicating authority for declaration about applicability of the moratorium on the aircraft with regard to which leases in favour of the corporate applicant were terminated prior to admission of Section 10 application,” the order passed by NCLAT said.
However, lawyers representing the lessors said civil aviation regulator DGCA shouldn’t allow the aircraft to be operated as lease has been terminated. “The onus on whether the aircraft are fit to do a safe operation depends on the IRP and DGCA,” a lawyer said.
“Only three appeals from SMBC Aviation Capital, SFV Aircraft Holdings and GY Aviation were heard today (Monday). But the Bench has other appeals that would also be disposed of in a similar manner,” said a lawyer representing a lessor. “We are exploring several options now. One is approaching the Delhi High Court for the DGCA to deregister our aircraft and let us repossess them. The other is to go to the Supreme Court against the NCLAT decision,” he added.
Multiple global lessors including SMBC Aviation Capital, GY Aviation and SFV Aircraft Holdings, moved the NCLAT seeking to overturn the moratorium.
