Feb 15, 2019 India's second-largest airline is drowning under exponential debt of $1.1 billion that it cannot repay, largely due to the rupee's decline coupled with soaring oil prices.

The situation is growing increasingly critical for Jet Airways, which has not stopped cancelling dozens of flights on its domestic routes in recent weeks. Four of their aircraft are no longer taking off from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. While the company claimed at the end of January that these were merely routine maintenance on the planes, the persistence of the problem forced them to backtrack and finally admit that these cancellations are indeed due to "non-payment of sums owed to lessors, according to the terms of the aircraft lease agreements."

€220 million needed urgently

Jet Airways, India's second-largest airline, which holds 14% of the market share, must urgently find, according to Le Monde newspaper, "€220 to €260 million to honour not only its lease contracts", but also the order for 224 Boeing 737s. Still according to the daily newspaper, the company will need to raise between €400 and €440 million additional funds by 2020 to meet its loan obligations.

Thibault Bourru

Thibault BourruA passionate lover of literature and Asia, Thibault shares his experiences through his writing.