SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh on Wednesday said any potential bidder of Jet Airways must have to contend with a viability gap funding of Rs 25,000 crore, out of which Rs 11,000 crore needed to paid upfront. This casts a shadow on the grounded carrier’s ability to take to the skies again even as the civil aviation ministry sought to protect Jet’s much coveted slots at the premier airports by limiting advance booking on these slots to just three months.
“The slots are being allotted on a temporary basis for a three month period and they should not resort to advance booking beyond that period,” a civil aviation ministry official said. The slots allotted temporarily can be taken back when Jet is able to fly. Jet Airways had 280 slots at the Mumbai airport and 180 in Delhi.
