Jet Airways In Talks With Boeing, Airbus For $12 Billion Order

Jet Airways 2.0 will be a full-service airline, with a business class in most planes once the venture takes off. It will also offer a frequent flyer program.

The new owners of once-bankrupt Jet Airways India Ltd. are in talks with Boeing Co. and Airbus SE to purchase at least 100 narrowbody jets for the carrier's fleet in a bid to revive what used to be the biggest private airline in the nation before it collapsed under a pile of debt.

The winning bidders for Jet Airways in a state-run bankruptcy resolution process -- Dubai-based, Indian-origin businessman Murari Lal Jalan and Florian Fritsch, the chairman of London-based financial advisory and alternative asset manager Kalrock Capital Management Ltd. -- plan to start flights in the first three months of next year, Ankit Jalan, a representative for the consortium, said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

The group will invest around 15 billion rupees ($200 million) via equity and debt in the airline over the next six months, half a year earlier than originally planned, Mr Jalan, who is Murari Lal's nephew, said earlier this week.

The potential revival of Jet Airways, which forced creditors to take a 95% haircut, will be the first for any airline under India's bankruptcy laws and will intensify competition in one of the world's most cut-throat aviation markets. Founded by ticketing agent-turned-entrepreneur Naresh Goyal after India ended a state monopoly on aviation in the early 1990s, Jet Airways became popular among fliers as an attractive alternative to Air India Ltd., offering full-service flights to cities including London and Singapore, before a bunch of low-cost airlines ushered in cheap fares for no-frills services.