Although Indian carrier Go First collapsed some time ago in 2023, several of its lessors are still struggling to repossess aircraft due to a complicated court process that has had to negotiate a conflict between Indian bankruptcy laws and the Cape Town Convention.
This has led to downgrades of India’s Cape Town compliance by the Aviation Working Group, with a host of lessors still seeking the return of dozens of aircraft more than seven months after the carrier’s grounding.
Meanwhile, the stranded aircraft have languished in inappropriate conditions and lessors have complained, having not been put into storage status for several months, if at all. There were also allegations about the theft of aircraft parts.
A partial resolution may be on the way, though, according to Indian media Mint, which reported today that seven lessors had agreed for a third-party MRO provider to perform maintenance on their aircraft.
This follows the establishment of SP Mumbai Aviation, led by a former member of the airline’s finance team, which is tasked with liaising with lessors to provide them with the aircraft technical records, as directed by an Indian court in October.
Following that ruling, at least one lessor then filed a contempt petition that the airline was still not providing the necessary documents.
SP Mumbai Aviation was set up in response and, in December, Go First’s resolution professional, who is charge of managing its insolvency process, suggested that the new company could help coordinate necessary maintenance with the airline’s lessors.
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