Jet Airways has put more than half of its wide-body aircraft fleet on sale, a move that will help the carrier reduce its overall debt and improve profits.
On the trade website Speednews.com, Jet has invited offers for all 10 of its Boeing 777-300ERs (B77W) and all six of its Airbus A330-200s (A332) aircraft.
A spokesperson for the carrier said: “Jet Airways is evaluating several options to optimise the fleet inventory in the context of our ongoing network evaluation to drive sustainable profitability.” All indications are that the airline may go in for a ‘sale and lease-back’ arrangement as it intends to continue with long-haul flights which are generally serviced by the wide-body fleet. Jet is believed to be having a debt of over ₹10,000 crore. It presently has 22 wide body planes (10 Boeing 777s and 12 Airbus A330 aircraft) of which six A330s are on operating lease while the remaining 16 are on a financial lease.
The company is seeking shareholders’ approval for the same at an extraordinary general meeting to be held on May 16, Jet said in a notification to the exchanges.
The Jet spokesperson did not comment on how the company intends to use the proceeds from the offering.