SpiceJet's troubles continue, DGCA deregisters two more Boeing aircrafts

Following non-payment of dues to lessors, the aviation regulator DGCA deregistered two more SpiceJet Boeing 737 aircraft on Wednesday. With this most recent deregistration, the airline has now deregistered six of its Boeing 737 aircraft in August. VT-SPU and VT-SGQ, two Boeing 737-800 and 737-900ER aircraft, were deregistered under IDERA on August 31. This information comes from a senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Under the Cape Town Convention, lessors and lenders can seek deregistration of a leased aircraft in case there is a default. Such requests are made under Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorisation (IDERA). In recent months, SpiceJet has been facing turbulent times, including financial headwinds. In July, the regulator directed the airline to operate only 50 per cent of flights in the wake of many of its planes facing technical issues. On Wednesday, the carrier reported a net loss of Rs 789 crore for the three months ended June.

The deregistration request for SpiceJet Boeing aircraft was requested to be deregistered by the aviation watchdog on August 28. Irish lessor Horizon Aviation submitted the deregistration requests. This was the third time in recent weeks that the authority has received petitions to deregister aircraft that were leased to SpiceJet. Irrevocable Deregistration and Export Request Authorizations were used to file the deregistration requests for flights (IDERA).

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The budget airline SpiceJet had stated that it intended to gradually replace all of its older Boeing aircraft with the new Max type, adding roughly 20 new Max aircraft to its fleet by the end of the following calendar year.

With inputs from PTI