Jet Airways and Go Fist lose their airlines codes after being non-operational: Report

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has removed the airline codes “G8” and “9W” assigned to Go First and Jet Airways after being non-operational, Mint reported.

IATA’s head of communications stated that in order to be considered for an IATA two-letter designator, an airline must be in operation. Early in May of this year, Go First Airlines stopped operating its commercial flights.

The "G8"for Go First has been revoked by the IATA, which gives airlines a two-letter designator and numeric codes, for a period of one year.

According to the IATA website, companies are given the airline designator code to use for bookings, schedules, timetables, telecommunications, ticketing, cargo paperwork, legal, tariffs, and other commercial and related traffic purposes.

“One of the requirements for a company to be eligible for an IATA two-letter designator is that the airline needs to be operating. As Go First ceased to operate commercial flights since early May 2023, it is currently not eligible for the IATA two-letter designator,” Mint quoted Albert Tjoeng, Head of Corporate Communications at IATA, as saying in a statement.

According to him, the two-letter designator and numeric codes will be blocked for a period of a year, after which Go First may apply to have the designator reinstated provided the conditions are satisfied.

Budget airline Go First stopped flying on May 3 and is currently going through an insolvency resolution procedure due to financial difficulties and engine problems.

“9W,” a two-letter designator, is still barred in the case of Jet Airways, which was grounded in April 2019.

IATA codes are essential for identifying an airline, its destinations, and papers used in traffic.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) asked the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) and the Committee of Creditors (CoC) for their approval earlier in July regarding Go First’s proposal to return money to passengers who had made reservations for flights after May 3, the day the airline ceased operations.

The Go First management team, under the direction of the Resolution Professional (RP), filed a refund plan that called for a combination of payment through credit notes given to travellers and travel broker with settlements done using operating revenue.

The National Company Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) also handed the winning bidder for Jet Airways, the Jalan-Kalrock consortium, till September 30 to pay the Rs 350 crore ($ 42 million) in debts owed to the airline’s lenders.

The consortium’s request to apply Rs 150 crore ($18 million) from a performance bank guarantee towards the payment of 350 crore was also granted by the tribunal.

The NCLAT will take up the remaining issues after September 30th, including the one from the workers who are requesting the recovery of around 224 crore in unpaid wages.

The resolution plan for Jet Airways was approved by the NCLT on June 22, 2021. It was submitted by the Jalan-Kalrock consortium, which included Florian Fritsch and non-resident Indian Murari Lal Jalan. Jalan will own shares in Jet Airways through his investment holding company Kalrock Capital Partners Ltd., Cayman.

In April 2019, Jet Airways was forced to stop operations due to financial issues. However, due to ongoing disagreements between the consortium and the lenders, the transfer of ownership has been on hold.

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