Busy Bee says can buy Go First as going concern, to reach out to lenders
This story was originally published at 13:51 IST on 31 January 2025
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NEW DELHI – Busy Bee Airways Pvt. Ltd., a bidder for Go First, informed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal Friday that it is still interested in acquiring the airline as a going concern and intends to engage with lenders to negotiate a deal. Busy Bee said that Go First retains valuable assets, such as its Directorate General of Civil Aviation licence.
Busy Bee Airways had moved the appellate tribunal against the National Company Law Tribunal's Delhi bench decision to order Go First's liquidation. The Bhartiya Kamgar Sena Mumbai trade union expressed concern that 5,000 workers would be left without support if the airline is liquidated. The union requested the court to instruct lenders to maintain Go First as a going concern until the resolution of the airline's ongoing arbitration with Pratt & Whitney.
Following this, the airline's liquidator agreed to submit the minutes of the committee of creditors' meeting that led to the liquidation decision. The appellate tribunal is scheduled to hear the case again on Feb. 10.
Go First filed for voluntary insolvency due to a financial crisis triggered by Pratt & Whitney's failure to supply engines, which led to the grounding of 28 out of its 56 aircraft. The airline owes over INR 65 billion to its lenders, with secured creditors, including Central Bank of India (INR 19.34 billion), Bank of Baroda (INR 17.44 billion), and IDBI Bank (INR 750 million). The National Company Law Tribunal had admitted the insolvency petition on May 10, 2023.
Busy Bee Airways and SpiceJet Ltd.'s Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh had jointly submitted a bid to revive Go First. However, the airline's recovery plan was disrupted by a setback from the Delhi High Court regarding its leased aircraft. On Apr. 26, 2024, the court directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to deregister 54 aircraft leased by Go First, prompting Busy Bee to withdraw its bid.
On Sept. 3, the tribunal issued a notice to Go First's suspended management following a request from the resolution professional to liquidate the airline. On Jan. 20, the Delhi tribunal ordered the liquidation of Go First. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Subhojit Sarkar
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