NCLAT order fuels hope of Go First’s return to skies

An appeals court on Monday upheld the National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) court order preventing Go Airlines (India) Ltd’s aircraft from being repossessed by lessors amid insolvency proceedings, significantly enhancing the prospects of the grounded Go First returning to the skies.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order will help Go First restart operations with these planes. An adverse order would have led to lessors taking back these aircraft, impacting plans to resume operations. The airline plans to restart operations next month but has not made any official request to the authorities yet.

“The airline is considering resuming operations on a small scale by next month, but there has been no official communication so far to the government on the same. The employees are yet to be paid the pending dues, but a large part of staff continues to take the exit path and look for other opportunities,” a person aware of the development said.

The ruling came in response to appeals filed by four aircraft lessors of Go Airlines. The appeals were filed by SMBC Aviation Capital, SFV Aircraft Holdings, GY Aviation and Engine Leasing Finance against the NCLT order that restrained them from repossessing aircraft leased to Go Airlines.

A bench led by Justices Ashok Bhushan and Barun Mitra, however, granted the lessors and the resolution professional the right to approach NCLT to get clarity about the aircraft and how their possession would be affected due to the moratorium.

“The appellant (lessors) and the interim resolution professional (IRP) are at liberty to make an appropriate application under Section 60, sub-section (5) with regard to claims of possession and other respective claims of both the parties relating to the aircraft in question, which needs to be decided by the Adjudicating Authority in accordance with law,” the court said.