Debt-laden Jet Airways has further reduced its fleet and planned to fly a total of 14 planes on Thursday, said sources familiar with the matter.

The active fleet is likely to include three Boeing 737, three ATR, seven Boeing 777 and one Airbus A330, sources told CNBC-TV18, requesting anonymity.

The airline has been struggling to manage its operations as lenders have not agreed to infuse the much-needed interim funding requirement of Rs 1,500 crore.

On Wednesday, Indian Oil Corporation had stopped the supply of jet fuel to the carrier for almost five hours across the country, leading to several flight cancellations and delays. This was the second time in a matter of seven days that fuel supply was halted to the airline.

"Negotiations will take place with lessors and refuelling companies today," another source said.

The airline suffered a major setback on Wednesday with eight of its planes getting de-registered by the regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation, making way for these aircraft to go back to their lessors. A total of 18 more of Jet Airways' planes are under consideration for de-registeration as of now.

The airline, desperately waiting for an investor, did receive some good news on that front late Wednesday as some bidders have shown interest in buying the stake in Jet Airways.

"As part of the process, we are in receipt of some expression of interest (EOIs) and some more persons have expressed the desire to participate if additional time is provided. Accordingly, in order to allow better participation in the process the domestic lenders have agreed for extension timeline for submission of EoI which have been updated and made available on the websites," SBI Capital Markets Limited said in a statement.

The bid submission deadline, which got extended Wednesday evening, now stands at Apr 12.

First Published:Apr 10, 2019 11:44 PM IST