Ace acquires another plane as Jet deal gets delayed

Ace Aviation, which has been fighting Jet Airways for the acquisition of three Boeing B777 aircraft, said that it has acquired another aircraft for the conversion slot in early February 2025.

Conversion slots are time slots given to change plane type.

Michael Koish, chief investment officer, Challenge Group, which is the parent company of Malta-based Ace Aviation, said it has conversion slots in early 2025 to convert passenger aircraft to freighter and for that they needed the acquisition of the assets soon.

However, the lack of cooperation from both the lenders of Jet Airways and the successful bidder for the airline, Jalan Kalrock Consortium, forced them to procure another aircraft from the market.

“We have secured several conversion slots starting the first quarter of 2025.

"We initially aimed to finalize the purchase of these Jet aircraft by mid-2024 to meet this deadline.

"However, the lack of cooperation from the banks and the SRA (Successful Resolution Applicant, that is JKC) has delayed the deal significantly.

"As a reminder, we signed an LOI (Letter of Intent) and injected $5.6 million into Jet account two years ago.

"Under the resolution plan, the deal was supposed to be closed within 45 days, yet two years have elapsed with no progress, and they keep dragging their feet,” he said.

Koish said procuring another aircraft from the market was “smooth”, which demonstrates how efficiently such acquisitions can proceed when all parties cooperate.

“To meet our first MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) slot, we have already procured another aircraft from the market; this process was smooth, taking just three-four months with minimal challenges.

"This illustrates how efficiently such acquisitions can proceed when all parties cooperate.

"For the second MRO slot later in 2025, we depend on closing this deal with Jet Airways,” he said.

As of now, State Bank of India and JKC are at loggerheads in the Supreme Court, with the latter telling the court that lenders are intentionally pushing the company towards liquidation to maximise their profit by selling the airline’s assets as “scrap”.

Koish said despite the Supreme Court directive six months ago to complete the transaction of sale of three Jet aircraft, they have seen minimal engagement from their side.

“We have persistently pushed for progress, but they have not responded to our repeated requests to move forward with the transaction.

"Pursuant to various requests, the Jet team agreed to discuss the issues for completion of sale in compliance with the directions passed by the courts.

"However, there was no effective steps or dialogue from their side to progress with the sale and the orders of the courts for completion of sale are still not complied with,” Koish said.

He further said that Jet has not allowed them inspection for two years ever since the sale was finalised.

“Despite our repeated requests, we have not been allowed to conduct a thorough inspection of the aircraft.

"A back-to-birth records inspection is vital — not only for us but also for Jet, as it provides a clear picture of their asset’s condition.

"We offered to bear all costs for this inspection, yet they have refused without justification.

"Their refusal places us in a risky situation and delays the planning of necessary maintenance scope of work, which is needed to fix and maintain the aircraft that are currently not airworthy,” he said.

In spite of the challenges in acquiring the aircraft from Jet, Koish said the Indian market is strategically important to them and they will not walk away from the deal.

“During hearings, there were some ridiculous claims made in court suggesting we would like to walk away.

"Such statements are cynical and untrue.

"We have consistently proven that we are the ones trying to close this deal, while it appears that others are finding excuses to delay the process and avoid concluding it,” he said.

Koish said: “We had announced a year-and-a-half ago that we would start operating flights to India initially from Bombay and Delhi — three flights weekly — to destinations in West Asia and Europe.

"Soon thereafter, it was also planned that we will increase our services to five flights a week.

"We bring confidence with our customers in India and hope that we can close the deal for the purchase of three B777s soon.

"However, any further delays in finalizing this transaction will jeopardize our entire schedule and operational plans.”

Ace’s plea is now before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai, to acquire the Jet aircraft.