209 Jet Airways Slots Lying Vacant At 31 Airports, Says Government
The government had decided to temporarily allocate Jet Airways slots to airlines who could start new flights immediately.
A total of 209 slots vacated by Jet Airways (India) Ltd. are lying unused at 31 airports across the country, according to the data shared by Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. A slot is a date and time at which an airline's aircraft is permitted to depart or arrive at an airport.
The 209 Jet Airways vacant slots include 34 in Chennai airports, 18 in Indore, 12 in Guwahati and eight in Ahmedabad, Puri said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
The Lucknow airport has 12 such slots, while airports in Jodhpur, Pune and Vadodara each has 10 slots vacant. There are eight Jet Airways slots vacant at Kolkata airport.
The Jet Airways crisis, which in effect started after it delayed its June quarter results for 2018-19, eventually led to the grounding of the airline on April 17. This resulted in a spike in domestic and international flight ticket prices.
The central government decided to temporarily allocate slots as well as international flying rights of Jet Airways to other airlines who could start new flights immediately and bridge the supply gap.
The airline is now in India’s bankruptcy courts, as the lenders have failed to find a buyer for the debt-laden firm.
On Thursday, Jet Airways shares fell 4.91 percent to Rs 51.30 apiece on the BSE while the benchmark Sensex gained 0.69 percent to end the day at 38,823.11 points.