Jet Airways flying 26 aircraft fulfills criteria for international operations: Civil Aviation secretary

New Delhi: Jet Airways is currently operating a fleet of 26 planes and the airline right now fulfills the criteria for operating on international routes, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said on Thursday. On Wednesday, Kharola had said that Jet Airways is operating 28 planes, including 15 aircraft on domestic routes. Jet Airways, which is grappling with acute financial woes, had a fleet of around 119 planes. On Thursday, the secretary said that “26 planes are flying currently”. He added that international operations of an airline depends on the number of aircraft and seating capacity and Jet Airways “right now fulfils this” criteria. [caption id=“attachment_6249291” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] 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. For the past few weeks, the airline has been grounding its aircraft in tranches due to non-payment of dues to lessors. On 25 March, the airline’s board approved a debt-resolution plan under which the lenders would take control of the airline and also make an immediate fund infusion of Rs 1,500 crore. The secretary said that airlines have to comply with the “0/20 rule for international operations”. He added that since Jet Airways has 26 aircraft in its fleet currently, question of “examining Jet Airways” on “0/20 rule does not arise”. The secretary said that Jet Airways reiterated on Thursday that it will fly 75 aircraft by the end of April. The new “0/20” rules does away with the five-year requirement, but carriers will still need to demonstrate a fleet of 20 aircraft for international operations.