'Acquiring grounded planes in India is a major struggle'

Grounded plane is metal with corrosion, says Challenge Group, which won bid for 3 Jet planes

- Priyanka Gawande & Anu Sharma

Acquiring grounded aircraft in India remains a significant challenge, said two senior executives of the Challenge Group, which recently got court approval to acquire three wide-body aircraft of grounded Jet Airways after a delay of more than a year.

"Unfortunately, it’s already been two years. It’s a very long period and the process has created a lot of difficulty for us due to court battles and disagreement between the lenders and Jalan Group on some elements. We just see ourselves as somebody who’s suffering because it creates risk for our plan to convert those aircraft. Maybe we have to step back and go take something else from the market for those assets that are still available," Eshel Heffetz, chief executive, Challenges Airlines, said in an interview.

The freighter aircraft operator was one of the bidders for the three Boeing B777-300 ER aircraft of Jet in the auction organized by the monitoring committee of the airline in 2022.