EaseMyTrip founder no longer wants to buy Go First: Nishant Pitti withdrew the bid, had bid along with SpiceJet in February

EaseMyTrip co-founder and CEO Nishant Pitti has withdrawn his bid to buy cash-strapped airline Go First. “After careful consideration, I have decided to withdraw from the Go First bid,” Pitti said.

Nishant Pitti’s company Busy Bee, which has majority stake, had shown interest in buying stake in Go First. For this, in February, Busy Bee along with SpiceJet MD and Chairman Ajay Singh had bid. Busy Bee Airways Private Limited is a joint venture of Nishant Pitti and Ajay Singh.

DGCA had canceled the registration of 54 Go First aircraft on May 1.

Earlier, on May 1, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had canceled the registration of 54 aircraft of Go First Airline. On April 26, the Delhi High Court had asked for deregistration of the aircraft taken on lease by Go First within 5 working days. After this the aviation regulator took this action.

Aircraft leasing companies include Pembroke Aviation, Accipiter Investments Aircrafts 2 Ltd, EOS Aviation and SMBC Aviation. These companies had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court demanding the release of the planes which were given on lease to Go First.

On May 22, 2023, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had also upheld the order of the NCLT i.e. National Company Law Tribunal, under which Go First’s petition for declaring it bankrupt was accepted.

Go First flights are closed since May 3 last year

Go First’s flights have been closed since May 3 last year and it is going through voluntary bankruptcy process. The airline had told last year on May 2, 2023 that it was canceling all its flights for May 3, 4 and 5. Since then, Go First has been continuously extending the date of suspending flights.

The airline owes Rs 6,521 crore to lenders.

GoFirst owes Rs 6,521 crore to its lenders. Acute Ratings and Research had said in its January 19 report that Central Bank of India had the highest exposure of Rs 1,987 crore, followed by Bank of Baroda at Rs 1,430 crore, Deutsche Bank at Rs 1,320 crore and IDBI Bank at Rs 58 crore. was due.