Jet Airways cannot claim historicity over slots on any grounds: NCLT

By LE Staff

Mumbai, July 1, 2021: The Mumbai bench of NCLT has rejected the appeal on slots of the new owners of Jet Airways, saying the airline cannot claim ‘historicity’ over slots on any grounds.

In its final judgement, the NCLT, however, allowed the implementation of the resolution plan. The new owners of Jet Airways are Murari Lal Jalan and Kalrock Capital.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has applied the ‘use it or lose it’ rule to deny historical slots to the new promoters of Jet Airways, saying the slots cannot be pre-allotted.

“The facts and circumstances would indicate that presently the slots cannot be restored to the Corporate Debtor on a historic basis. The thumb rule being ‘use it or lose it’,” the two judge-Bench headed by Janab Mohammed Ajmal and V Nallasenapathy said in their final order.

The slot is the permission given to an airline to land at or depart from an airport, and usually cost a premium amount for prime slots in metro cities.

Before its grounding in April 2019, Jet Airways enjoyed the best slots in the country. After its grounding, the slots were allotted to other airlines.