Jet scrips up 10% over slot protection assurance

Mumbai, April 23 (IANS) Bucking the trend seen in the past three sessions after the "temporary" grounding of the Jet Airways, scrips of the cash-strapped airline finished Tuesday's trade nearly 10 per cent higher after gaining up to 12 per cent.

This comes as the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Tuesday said that historic rights of the slots of the airline across various airports would be protected.

Jet stocks closed 9.90 per cent higher at Rs 169.90 apiece after 3 days of consecutive fall.

"The historic rights of Jet Airways, as per the provisions of the extant MoCA guidelines for slot allocation will be protected. These slots would be made available to Jet Airways as and when they revive their operations, as per the extant guidelines," the Ministry said in an official statement.

It clarified that the slots vacated by Jet Airways are being given to other airlines purely on a temporary basis and for a period of three months. The slots are currently being allotted by a committee comprising all concerned stakeholders in a transparent manner, the statement added.

Jet Airways scrips appreciated on the government's slot protection assurance and some high-risk investors taking a bet on an early revival of the airline, said Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities.

Jet Airways had "temporarily" suspended all flight operations from last Wednesday as it failed to secure an interim funding of Rs 400 crore for maintaining bare minimum operations. Following its grounding, the scrips had lost nearly 50 per cent of the value of its stock.