The company, which is currently in the process of finalising its $500 million acquisition of Air Sahara, informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it has concluded sale and lease back transaction for five aircraft in 2005-06.
It said it had planned the "purchase of 30 aircraft over the next few years." With the sale and lease back of two Boeing 737-800s and three Boeing 737-400s in the last fiscal, Jet Airways fleet would comprise 53 planes. Of these, 19 are owned and 34 leased.
The Jet Airways also informed BSE that it had appointed well known Bollywood producer and director Yash Chopra as an additional director on its board.
Meanwhile, the airline, which has decided to run Air Sahara as its wholly-owned subsidiary till regulatory clearances were granted, has finalised its name by rejecting at least two alternatives - Jet Express and Jet Aviation.
However, airline sources refused to divulge the name already finalised saying it was pending clearance from several agencies including Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Jet was still awaiting security clearances from the Union Home Ministry for at least ten of its officials, to enable them become members of the new Air Sahara Board.
Once security clearance is granted, the reconstituted Board would meet to adopt a resolution to enable Jet operate Air Sahara as its wholly-owned subsidiary, they said. Till then, the two carriers would continue to operate as separate entities, the sources said.
Once the resolution was passed by the newly-constituted Board, the aircraft livery could be changed, the mandatory engine checks (C-checks) and other activities could be carried out by Jet Airways on Air Sahara aircraft and other facilities, including ticketing and airport counters.
Ten top Jet officials have been working for several weeks with their Air Sahara counterparts to help them streamline the sales, ticketing and several managerial issues, they said.
The airline would seek formal approval of the civil aviation ministry for the merger after the new guidelines for mergers and acquisitions in the aviation sector were notified, the sources said.
Under the new guidelines evolved by the aircraft acquisition committee, a 100 per cent transfer of property is allowed after merger or acquisition. The property includes aircraft, routes, time-slots and parking bays.
Jet Airways had acquired Air Sahara for an enterprise value of $500 million in January and had paid an advance of Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) in March end as part of the buyout package.
The new guidelines would also help the proposed merger of national carriers Air India and the Indian in 2006, which would turn the combined entity into a mega carrier with about 130 planes.
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