The founder of Jet Airways in India at Mumbai Airport

Mumbai: The Indian immigration authorities on Saturday prevented former Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal and his wife from traveling to London, a manager said a few months after the company, in debt debt, has immobilized its fleet.

Goyal was arrested at the Mumbai International Airport with his wife, Anita, after the authorities recalled the flight to Dubai while he was heading to the runway, announced a spokesman for the Department of Immigration in a statement to AFP.

Officials gave no explanation on the imposed travel ban imposed on the couple, but the media indicated that they had been allowed to leave the airport later.

Goyal is not under investigation, but a number of renowned businessmen have fled India for alleged involvement in financial crimes, causing a public outcry.

Aged 69, he left the company's presidency and board of directors in March as a result of a debt restructuring pact with lenders while he was contracting a loan of $ 1.2 billion.

Anita has also left the board.

As the first Indian airline, Jet ended its activities after a consortium of lenders refused to pay emergency cash, failing to find a buyer for a 75% stake in the carrier in April.

The consortium led by State Bank of India, India's largest state-owned bank, took control of Jet in March and is committed to providing "immediate financial support" of $ 218 million. as part of a rescue plan.

But lenders have refused to pay money to the troubled airline, which has not paid employees' salaries since January, forcing hundreds of people into the streets, with some 20,000 employees at risk. to lose their job.

Bad investments, competition from several low-cost carriers, high oil prices and low rupee led to Jet's current financial situation. Mismanagement also affected the airline.

Analysts traced the start of Jet's financial problems to its purchase of Air Sahara in 2006 for $ 500 million in cash.

Goyal, an entrepreneur turned travel agent, launched Jet in 1992 after the Indian government adopted a series of reforms designed to make the economy more market-driven.

The Mumbai-based carrier quickly gained a reputation for introducing new initiatives – Jet was the first Indian airline to offer a loyalty program and in-flight entertainment.

But it started to suffer from the new, well-run low-cost airlines, including IndiGo, GoAir and SpiceJet, which were created between 2005 and 2006.

Kingfisher Airlines, another low-cost carrier, closed in 2012 after failing to repay multi-million dollar loans to state-owned banks. Its owner, Vijay Mallya, fled India in 2016 and is currently fighting in a London extradition court against his deportation for facing a financial fraud lawsuit.