New Delhi : Cash-strapped Jet Airways is operating 28 planes, including 15 aircraft in the domestic routes, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said on Wednesday.
Jet Airways, where the lenders are set to take control as part of a debt resolution plan, on Tuesday disclosed that it has grounded 15 more aircraft due to non-payment of lease rentals.
Asked about the active fleet of Jet Airways, Kharola, on the sidelines of an aviation conference in the morning, said, "yesterday, it was 28".When told that the airline has announced grounding 15 more aircraft, he said that then the current fleet would be "less than about 15".
In the evening, Kharola clarified to PTI that Jet Airways is operating around 28 planes and out of them, about 15 are operating in the domestic routes.On the sidelines of the conference here, the civil aviation secretary also said that Jet Airways' ability to fly international operations needs to be "examined". In the afternoon, a DGCA spokesperson said Jet Airways continues to fly 28 aircraft as on date.
"The 15 aircraft reported is already accounted for and was only informed to the stock exchanges by Jet Airways yesterday," the spokesperson said.On Tuesday evening, the airline informed the stock exchanges that it has grounded 15 more aircraft due to non-payment of lease rentals. Now, the total number of planes grounded on account of default in lease rental payments, as disclosed by the airline, stands at 69.