Go First Goes With Delhi High Court Order, Set For Liquidation
Go First Goes With Delhi High Court Order, Set For Liquidation
Go First filed for bankruptcy in May 2023. Since then, the lessors of these aircraft have been locked in a battle with the former owner of the airline and others to take control of their aircraft.
Go First has reportedly gone with the Delhi High Court (HC) order for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to deregister all its 54 aircraft by May 3 as it heads toward liquidation. An official of a bank which has exposure to Go First reportedly said, “The resolution plan was submitted to revive the airline. The bids were submitted because they saw it as a going concern. With the aircraft deregistered, we are not sure whether it will remain one. Without the aircraft, there are only slots available. There is not much value.”
All 54 aircraft let out to the now bankrupt airline Go First were deregistered by the DGCA following the Delhi HC order dated April 26. The Delhi HC on April 26 ordered the DGCA to deregister the planes leased to Go First within five working days in a major relief to the lessors. The civil aviation regulator complied with the court order and deregistered the planes, clearing the decks for the lessors to claim the airline’s aircraft. On behalf of the Resolution Professional of Go First, Advocate Diwakar Maheshwari urged the court to keep the order in abeyance but the court refused to do so.
This indicates the end of the road for the low-budged carrier which in November 2005 introduced commercial flights, just 10 months before IndiGo did the same. But while IndiGo has come out as the country’s largest airline with around 60% of the domestic passenger market, and the world’s third-most valuable airline by market capitalisation with a fleet of 370 aircraft, Go First joins the likes of Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways that went out of business in 2012 and 2019, respectively, highlighting the innate challenges in plotting a course through India’s aviation industry.
Many reclaimed planes had missing engines that were difficult to procure due to a shortage of Pratt and Whitney engines, according to a lessor. The aircraft were in a poor state and it was difficult to bring them back to flying condition, he also said. Earlier, lessors informed the court that there were greenish deposits and rust on the grounded planes. Whereas the court said that the photos submitted by the lessors spoke for themselves.
Since Go First filed for insolvency in May 2024, lessors have been engaged in conflict with the former owner of Go First, lenders and Resolution Professional to take control of the aircraft. Go First stopped flights on May 3 last year, after submission of an insolvency application to the NCLT. On May 10, 2023, the tribunal imposed a moratorium on the airline’s assets, effectively preventing the lessors from reclaiming their aircraft (and engines on them) from the carrier. This decision had left them deeply dissatisfied.
