The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has degistered three aircraft of airline SpiceJet, acting on a demand by lessors. According to DGCA officials, of the three, two aircraft were grounded.
“One of the lessors has requested to hold its request to deregister another two aircraft with SpiceJet,” officials said.
The lessors had approached the regulator under the Irrevocable Deregistration and Export Request Authorisation norms. These norms require the regulators to deregister aircraft in case of lease rental default and allow them to repossess them within five working days of receiving a request.
SpiceJet, meanwhile, said the deregisteration has not impacted its operations.
“Out of the five planes listed for deregistration, one lessor has already requested DGCA to suspend the deregistration of two aircraft,” a SpiceJet spokesperson said. “Of the remaining three, two were grounded for a long period and not operational. Hence, there is no impact on our operations. We remain focused on bringing our grounded fleet back into operations,” the spokesperson added.
Recently, a few lessors have also taken SpiceJet to the National Company Law Tribunalto initiate insolvency proceedings against the airline. The tribunal has set May 25 as the next date of hearing the plea of lessor Aircastle.
The airline has maintained that it plans to revive 25 grounded aircraft to help it capitalise and make the most of the upcoming peak travel season. In addition, the budget carrier has stated that it has no plans “whatsoever to file for insolvency”.