NCLT orders liquidation of low-cost airline Go First
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has ordered the liquidation of the grounded low-cost airline, Go First. The decision was made by a bench comprising Judicial Member Mahendra Khandelwal and Technical Member Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan, acting on an application filed by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) in September 2024.
The CoC had sought liquidation after the airline was left with no aircraft and no viable revival options. The judgment, reserved in December 2024, was delivered following arguments highlighting that by October 2024, a quarter of Go First’s original fleet of 54 aircraft had already left India. By the end of December 2024, more than half of the fleet had been repossessed by lessors, with 28 aircraft no longer under Go First’s control, as noted by the CoC’s legal representatives.
Go First initially filed for voluntary insolvency resolution in May 2023 but faced insurmountable financial challenges. The airline owes ₹6,521 crore to lenders, including the Central Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Deutsche Bank, and IDBI Bank. Central Bank of India has the highest exposure at ₹1,987 crore, followed by Bank of Baroda at ₹1,430 crore, Deutsche Bank at ₹1,320 crore, and IDBI Bank at ₹58 crore.
In addition to bank dues, Go First has liabilities of around ₹2,000 crore to aircraft lessors, ₹1,000 crore to vendors, ₹600 crore to travel agents, and ₹500 crore in customer refunds. The airline also borrowed ₹1,292 crore under the government’s emergency credit scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic. Its total liabilities, including obligations to lessors, amount to approximately ₹11,000 crore.
Among the airline’s remaining assets is a 94-acre parcel of land in Thane, pledged as collateral by the Wadia Group, valued at around ₹3,000 crore. Other assets include an Airbus training facility in Mumbai and the airline’s headquarters.
Go First ceased operations on May 2, 2023, and its voluntary insolvency plea was admitted by the NCLT shortly afterward. With no feasible path to revival, the tribunal’s order for liquidation marks the end of the airline’s operations.
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