TLI Staff
New Delhi: Having burnt its fingers heavily in case of defunct Kingfisher Airlines, state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) has recovered all its dues from grounded Jet Airways by encashing all the bank guarantees furnished by the carrier.
“AAI has realised all its dues upto the date of suspension/stoppage of operations by Jet Airways, i.e. upto April 2019 by encashing the bank guarantee furnished by Jet Airways,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
The Minister said that AAI had given credit facility to Jet Airways as per its credit policy for scheduled airlines.
Unlike Jet Airways, the public sector airport operator had suffered heavy loss in case of Kingfisher Airlines and struggled to recover the dues. The Vijay Mallya-promoted carrier owed almost Rs 300 crore to AAI after it stopped operations due to severe cash crisis.
In a Parliament question, then Minister of State for Aviation Jayant Sinha on March 3, 2018 said that total outstanding dues recoverable from Kingfisher Airlines by Airports Authority of India (AAI) was Rs. 294.69 crore which included Rs 175.30 crore of principal and interest amount of Rs 119.39 crore.
AAI had in 2014 filed a recovery suit in the High Court of Judicature at Mumbai against Kingfisher Airlines. Kingfisher Airlines had ceased operations in October, 2012.
As against in case of Jet Airways, the AAI had moved swiftly in case of Jet Airways and repossessed the office space rented out to it and encashed the bank guarantee. The airport operator had revoked the airport entry passes for Jet Airways staff and taken over all the spaces allocated to the airline.