Shailendra Ajmera, Go First’s resolution professional (RP), invited Expressions of Interest (EoIs) Monday through August 9 from Potential Bidders for the grounded Airline, which is working on ways to resume operations. The ailing carrier stopped flying on May 3 and is currently undergoing the Voluntary Insolvency process.

The deadline for filing EoIs is Aug. 9, and the final list of potential resolution applicants will be announced Aug. 19, according to Ajmera’s public notice. The deadline for submitting any objections to the provisional list is August 24.

Go First, which had flown for over 17 years, faced severe financial headwinds as more than half the fleet was grounded due to the unavailability of Pratt & Whitney engines. On May 2, the no-frills airline filed voluntary insolvency proceedings with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), and the plea was accepted on May 10.

The airline has approximately 4,200 employees. It had a turnover of Rs 4,183 crore from operations in the financial year ending March 2022. The carrier’s liabilities are worth Rs 11,463 crore.

Last month, Go First’s Committee of Creditors (CoC), comprising Central Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank and Deutsche Bank, was established under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Later, the CoC submitted a revival plan to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to restart operations.

The DGCA conducted a special audit of Go First’s facilities in Mumbai and Delhi from July 4 to 6. Based on the audit findings, the regulator will decide whether to approve the airline’s revival plan. The airline has canceled all its flights until July 14. “…for operational reasons, Go First flights scheduled until July 14, 2023 have been canceled,” it said in a tweet Monday.

READ ALSO | Stock Market: Sensex is up over 400 points, conveniently close to 19500 on strong global signals. Bajaj Finserv leads