‘Emotional day for us’: Jet Airways on Hyderabad ‘test flight’ | Video | Latest News India

After a three-year hiatus, Jet Airways on Thursday took the skies again for its test flight at the Hyderabad airport in a big step towards revalidating the air operator certificate. The much-loved airline has not flown since April 17, 2019, after it ran into a huge debt. It is preparing to re-launch operations under its new promoters Jalan-Kalrock Consortium.

Taking to Twitter, Jet Airway CEO Sanjiv Kapoor said that the test flight’s operation was a “very emotional moment for all the wonderful folks who have been working hard to get Jet back in the skies”.

“Today, May 5, our 29th birthday, Jet Airways flew again! An emotional day for all of us who have been waiting, working, and praying for this day, as well as for Jet’s loyal customers who can’t wait for Jet to commence operations again,” Jet Airways tweeted from its official handle.

“Today, May 5, our 29th birthday, Jet Airways flew again! An emotional day for all of us who have been waiting, working, and praying for this day, as well as for Jet’s loyal customers who can’t wait for Jet to commence operations again,” Jet Airways tweeted from its official handle.

Thursday’s test flight was conducted from Hyderabad to Delhi with Boeing 737 aircraft of registration code VT-SXE.

Jet Airways has reportedly already hired more than 200 people across major functions and is all set to resume operations as soon as it receives the DGCA approval.

A test flight is conducted to prove to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that the aircraft and its components are operating normally. Subsequently, a proving flight is conducted, which acts as a dress rehearsal for commercial flight operations with passengers and cabin crew onboard. Once the process is complete, aviation regulator DGCA will grant the air operator certificate (AOC).

“This is to clarify that Jet Airways operated a test flight in Hyderabad earlier today, and a positioning ferry flight to Delhi thereafter. These were not proving flights. We expect to schedule proving flights in the coming days, which would be jointly determined with DGCA,” the brand said in another clarification post.

Last June, the NCLT approved the insolvency resolution plan submitted by UK-based Kalrock Capital and UAE-based businessman Jalan, paving the way for the revival of the airline, reports say. The consortium proposed to pay ₹1,183 crore to creditors over a period of five years from the proceeds of the sale of assets and cash flow.

It had also said it will invest ₹600 crore for the first two years to repay creditors, and ₹131 crore, ₹193 crore, and ₹259 crore to financial creditors at the end of the third, fourth, and fifth year, respectively, from the airline’s cash flow.

(With inputs from PTI)