Jet Airways will resume operations from the first quarter of 2022 starting with domestic flights and then fly overseas by the last quarter of the year, the winning bidder for the airline said on Monday.

The airline was grounded in April 2019 and went into insolvency as it could not repay its rising debt. In October last year, the committee of creditors approved a resolution plan submitted by the Jalan-Kalrock consortium. Subsequently in June this year, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave the green signal to the plan.

Shares of Jet Airways on Monday jumped 5 per cent. The stock gained 4.97 per cent to close at Rs 83.50 — its upper circuit — on the BSE. On the NSE, it jumped 4.98 per cent to close at Rs 84.40.

The statement said the first flight would be on the Delhi-Mumbai route and the airline would have its headquarters in Gurgaon.

Jet plans to have 50-plus aircraft in three years and more than 100 in five years. The aircraft will be leased, and on domestic routes it would choose narrow-body planes.

On the crucial matter of obtaining slots, the consortium said it was working closely with the authorities and airport co-ordinators on slot allocation, required airport infrastructure, and night parking.

Senior members of the consortium along with the operations team have already visited key airports last month and held “productive meetings” with the authorities, the statement said.

Before it went bust, Jet Airways held prime slots in airports such as Mumbai and Delhi, but these were re-allocated to other airlines. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had reportedly said that the airline cannot claim historicity for the slots and they will be allocated based on existing guidelines. Jet Airways will have to apply for fresh slots which may not give higher yields.

The consortium said that the process of reviving the grounded carrier is on track with the existing air operator certificate (AOC) already under process for revalidation.