The Delhi High Court has ruled that India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) must process deregistration applications filed by 14 lessors for 54 Airbus A320s that were leased to Go First by 3 May. "The Petitioners/Lessors are the IDERA (Irrevocable De-Registration and Export Request Authorisation) holders in respect of all Aircraft. Indisputably, the Cape Town Convention and Cape Town Protocol apply to these Aircraft," states the 26 April ruling by justice Tara Vitasta Ganju. "The Respondent/DGCA is bound to act within the mandate of the Aircraft Act and Aircraft Rules to deregister the Aircraft." The court also ordered that Go First's resolution professional and its employees are "restrained from entering, accessing or in any manner, operating or flying any of the Aircraft." They are also "restrained from removing, replacing taking out any accessories, spare parts, documents, records, materials, etc. of the Aircraft." Furthermore, aircraft maintenance shall be undertaken by the lessors or authorised representatives up to and until they are deregistered and exported, with up-to-date information and documentation provided by Go First. The ruling signifies an important win for lessors that have been embroiled in a legal tussle with Go First since May 2023 to repossess their aircraft. The lessors include SMBC Aviation, Aviation Capital Group, DAE Capital, BOC Aviation and Carlyle Aviation Partners. Go First formally entered insolvency restructuring on 10 May after the country's National Company Law Tribunal issued an order under which owners or lessors were prohibited from recovering their assets. However, in a government notification on 3 October 2023, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs declared that certain provisions under the insolvency and bankruptcy code, shall not apply to transactions, arrangements, or agreements related to aircraft, aircraft engines, airframes, and helicopters, in line with the Cape Town Convention protocol. Following that, the country’s DGCA confirmed in November 2023 that the changes “would have to be considered to have a retrospective effect”. "In any event, my ambiguity on this issue has been done away with by the MCA Notification, which makes it abundantly clear that aircraft, aircraft engines and airframes are excluded from the purview of the provisions of the IBC (insolvency and bankruptcy code)," says Justice Ganju in her judgement. The aircraft "ceased to be the property in possession of the corporate debtor upon termination of the Lease Agreements on various dates between 2-5 May 2023", which was when lessors issued notices of termination to Go First due to "arrears of lease rentals", she adds. The justice also states in her judgment that the delay in deregistration has affected India’s compliance rating of the Cape Town Convention and Cape Town Protocol, including "a long term impact on the Aircraft industry in India and also to Airlines operating in India, including a significant increase in lease rental payments charged by the Petitioners/Lessors." "The inconvenience of a specific party cannot outweigh the statutory provisions and the International Treaty obligations which are applicable to these Aircraft." Despite the win, there are worries that Go First's resolution professionals may file for an appeal that could stay the judgement, Nitin Sarin, managing partner at Sarin & Co, which represented some of the lessors. He notes that the "five working days" remains a "sword" over their heads, as it means Go First’s resolution professionals have time to appeal, but adds that "if the DGCA is quick and deregisters today or tomorrow, we might be able to get away scot-free." Regardless, Sarin says the judgement sets the "groundwork" for India's compliance to the Cape Town Convention, though there is still a long way to go including passing a formal bill in parliament.

SkyWest Airlines' parent generated an operating profit of $99.5 million in the fourth quarter, reversing a loss of $4.7 million in the same period of 2023. The US regional carrier generated $804 million in operating revenue, up 16% year on year, it says in an earnings report. It made a net profit of $60.3 million, after a net loss of $22 million a year earlier. The rise in revenue is attributed to the 5% increase of block hour production in the first quarter compared to the previous year. Chief executive officer Chip Childs states: "Our ability to meet our partners' demand for additional production continues to increase as our captain availability has improved. We are also pleased with how our teams performed under challenging winter conditions during the first quarter." During the period, operating expenses were $704 million, up $7 million, or 1%, from $697 million in the previous year. The increase in operating expenses was primarily driven by the 5% increase in block hour production year-over-year, offset by lower aircraft rent expense from early lease buyouts SkyWest executed in 2023, the carrier says. SkyWest had $821 million in cash and marketable securities at 31 March, down from $835 million in the year ago period. The company had $82 million of remaining availability under its current share repurchase program. Total debt was $2.9 billion, down from $3 billion on 31 December 2023. Capital expenditure during the quarter was $38 million for the purchase of spare engines and other fixed assets. As of 31 March, the company leased 35 CRJ700s and five CRJ900s to third parties and had 16 CRJ200s that are ready for service under SkyWest Charter operations. By the end of 2026, SkyWest is scheduled to operate a total of 278 E175 aircraft.

AirAsia X (AAX) will acquire Capital A’s AirAsia Aviation Group and AirAsia Berhad for MYR6.8 billion ($1.42 billion) to form a new company that will house all airlines operating under the AirAsia brand. AirAsia X entered into a sale and purchase agreement on 25 April to acquire AirAsia Aviation Group for consideration of MYR3 billion, and AirAsia Berhad for MYR3.8 billion, says the group. The proposed acquisition of AirAsia Aviation Group will be satisfied entirely through the allotment and issuance of 2.31 billion shares of the new company at an issue price of MYR1.30, while the acquisition of AirAsia Berhad will be done entirely through debt settlement. The newly formed entity will have seven airlines operating under it, namely Malaysia AirAsia, Thai AirAsia, Philippines AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, AirAsia Cambodia, AirAsia X and Thai Air Asia X. “This allows the AAX Group to be part of an enlarged aviation group with award-winning airlines with over 22 years of established history and track record instead of being run and managed distinctively as a separate entity from the AAAGL Group and AAB Group,” the company states. “The New Aviation Group will operate and provide a full spectrum of short, medium and long-haul low-cost air transportation services, with domestic flights and international flights from Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia to numerous destination countries.” The newly formed entity also plans to raise MYR1 billion through the private placement of new shares, with third-party investors and issue price to be determined at a later time. Gross proceeds will be used for funding aircraft, engines and other aircraft parts, repayment of AirAsia Berhad’s term loan facilities and general working capital, states AirAsia X. AAX says the airlines to be housed under the new entity collectively have an order of about 400 aircraft from Airbus, mainly secured by AirAsia Berhad, with scheduled delivery commencing from 2024 up until 2035. Capital A is expected to record a gain of MYR10.76 billion from the disposals, it says, and is expected to retain 18.39% of the enlarged issued shares of the newly formed company. “The Proposed Disposals are intended to be undertaken by the Company to streamline the Group’s core business activities to focus on aviation services and digital businesses which are essential and complementary to the passenger airlines business”, states Capital A. AAX entered into a non-binding letter of acceptance with Capital A on 8 January for the proposed acquisition of the two aviation business units.