Bankrupt airline Go First now faces a lawsuit over missing tyres leased to it by the Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone. The tyre company, which had leased 1,400 tyres to the airline at $200-700 per tyre per month, now wants them back.

Its Thailand subsidiary, Bridgestone Aircraft Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) Company, has petitioned the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Delhi, arguing that the tyres were leased and not sold to the airline, and therefore couldn’t be included in the assets to be liquidated.

“The main point was that tyres for Go First aircraft were leased and not sold and therefore were not the property of the bankrupt airline. Although, as an operational creditor, the demand was just for ₹3.2 crore, the real loss, which cannot be part of the resolution process, is from not being able to lease the tyres,” said an industry executive familiar with the matter.

So far, the NCLT has held only one hearing – in July. In its 21 July order, the tribunal issued a notice to the liquidator, asking it to file a response in two weeks. The matter was slated for hearing on Tuesday, 2 September, but was adjourned without hearing to 9 October.

EY (the liquidator), Dinkar T Venkatsubramanian, and Bridgestone Aircraft Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) are yet to respond to Mint’s queries.

Sukrit Kapoor, disputes and litigation partner at King Stubb & Kasiva (KSK), who represented Bridgestone before the tribunal, declined to comment, saying the matter was under judicial consideration.

Origin story

The dispute traces back to 2019, when Go First signed a five-year lease agreement with Bridgestone Hong Kong. After the tyre maker’s Hong Kong operations shut down, the lease was transferred to its Thailand subsidiary.

The lease expired by October 2024, before the airline was ordered into liquidation in January 2025. After the expiry, Go First was given a seven-month grace period to return the tyres. When it failed to do so, Bridgestone moved the NCLT petition in July.

The tyre dispute is one of several legal battles for Go First. The airline owes around ₹6,200 crore to creditors including the Central Bank of India ( ₹1,934 crore), Bank of Baroda ( ₹1,744 crore), and IDBI Bank ( ₹75 crore).

Go First is also pursuing a $1-billion arbitration case against engine maker Pratt & Whitney at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), claiming faulty engines led to its operational collapse. The outcome of this arbitration is seen as critical to Go First’s ability to repay lenders.

Grounded and liquidated

The airline has been grounded since 3 May 2023 after its promoter, Wadia Group, filed for voluntary insolvency, citing delays in engine deliveries from Pratt & Whitney. By then the airline owed more than ₹11,000 crore to banks, other financial institutions, vendors, and aircraft lessors.

EY’s Shailendra Ajmera was appointed as the resolution professional, but attempts to revive the airline hit a major roadblock when aircraft and engine lessors filed lawsuits to take possession of the assets. When the Delhi High Court allowed the lessors to repossess the planes in April 2024, Go First was left with no viable assets. This ultimately led to the airline’s liquidation in January 2025.

There was a brief glimmer of hope for a revival when Ajay Singh of SpiceJet and Nishant Pitti of EaseMyTrip submitted a joint ₹1,600-crore bid for the airline in February 2024, but it was withdrawn three months later.