Air India and IndiGo in race to acquire Go First’s assets amid high demand with other airlines – Reports

India’s largest airline IndiGo and the country’s largest conglomerate Tata Group, are reportedly in separate discussions to acquire Airbus SE planes from Go Airline India Ltd. This comes after the airline filed for bankruptcy protection and was directed to stop its ticket sales.

As per the reports by Bloomberg, sources familiar with the matter have revealed that both airline – AirIndia and IndiGo – are currently in separate negotiations with the Go Airline’s lessors. Moreover, the two airlines are also in touch with the operators at Mumbai and New Delhi airports regarding the landing and parking slot arrangements.

It has been disclosed that Go First’s lessors are seeking to repossess 36 aircrafts, which is evident from filings made with India’s aviation regulator.

Additionally, multiple other airlines have expressed their interest in acquiring the airport slots. One such company is Akasa Air, a recently established airline. The high demand towards acquiring the assets of Go First, could potentially create hurdles for the airline’s debt restructuring plans and efforts to resume operations.

The airline was instructed by the Indian aviation regulator on May 8 to halt its ticket sales. Similar action was taken against Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines about a decade ago. Unfortunately, the Kingfisher Airlines never resumed operations after that.