Shares of Jet Airways continued their upward journey on Wednesday and closed over 3 per cent higher after the company set an ‘ambitious’ target of flying 40 additional aircraft by the end of April.

The stock closed at Rs 277.15, up 2.27 per cent on the BSE. During the day, it gained 5.79 per cent to Rs 286.70.

At the NSE, shares went up by 3.21 per cent to close at Rs 279.60. In terms of volume, 23.40 lakh shares traded on the BSE, while over 2 crore shares changed hands on the NSE during the day.

In the past two days, the stock has climbed 20 per cent.

Jet Airways has informed the Government that it has 35 aircraft in operation and it has set an “ambitious” target of flying 40 additional aircraft by the end of April, Civil Aviation Secretary P S Kharola said Tuesday.

For the past few weeks, the full-service carrier has been grounding its aircraft in tranches due to non-payment of dues to lessors, bringing down its operational fleet from 103 to just 35.

Giving up the chairmanship after more than 26 years, embattled Jet Airways’ founder Naresh Goyal Monday quit as a board member, with the lenders taking control and deciding to infuse Rs 1,500 crore immediately into the ailing airline.

Addressing a press conference, Kharola said, “They (Jet Airways) were hopeful that by Monday or Tuesday, they will be able to come to some settlement with the lessors. As per the plan given by Jet, they are hopeful that by the end of next month, they will be able to fly about 40 more planes.”

“We had discussions with Jet and we asked them what is the plan now to bring the (grounded) planes back in the system. So, the first thing they have assured us is that 35 planes are flying and no more additional planes will be grounded,” he added.