Air Sahara on Wednesday night said it would run the airline with its own management if the deal with Jet Airways, which has agreed to buy it, did not materialize by midnight.
Updated at 9.10 pm
NEW DELHI: Air Sahara on Wednesday night said it would run the airline with its own management if the deal with Jet Airways, which has agreed to buy it, did not materialize by midnight.
However, Sahara indicated it was open to extending the deadline for the transaction.
"We had made an offer for a possible extension of 15 days deadline, which is still available with Jet. Moreover, our offer of a four-members on the board is also available," Air Sahara President Alok Sharma told reporters here.
Jet had demanded appointment of five members on the Board of Air Sahara. While four had been secured official clearance, that of Naresh Goyal is still pending with the government.
He, however, said that Sahara has not heard from Jet.
Asked the reason for delay, he said regulatory approvals had held back the completion of the deal.
"If there is no choice, then we will terminate on technical grounds."
On whether Air Sahara's counsel had submitted before the Lucknow court that Jet has terminated the deal, he declined to comment, saying the matter was sub judice.
"We have moved the Lucknow court, seeking to restrain Jet Airways to operate the escrow account, which has Rs 1,500 crore," Sharma said.
Insisting that the airlines was not loss-making, Sharma said it had registered a profit after tax of Rs 1 crore in 2003-04, which rose to Rs 27 crore in FY'05.
"For the fiscal '06, we have not yet closed the account as the deal in progress, but we are hopeful that the numbers will definitely be higher than the previous fiscal," he said.
On Air Sahara's declining market share, he said on January 18, "our share was 12 per cent. In terms of passengers, we have grown by six per cent this year. But if our market share has reduced, then it is because other players have more capacity faster than us."
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