SpiceJet’s current curtailed operations will continue till January 10 without the airline having to pay an airport every time its aircraft lands or takes off.
This follows the airport operators agreeing to provide a 10-day extension to the financially strapped airline. The airline had till midnight Wednesday to clear its outstanding of about ₹200 crore to various airports.
What prompted the latest extension was not immediately clear. While Government sources claim that the 10-day extension will be given only against a bank guarantee of around ₹180 crore, airline sources deny that any new bank guarantee is being sought by the airports.
A financial crunch has seen the airline’s daily departures drop to 230 flights from 345 in July. SpiceJet’s operations from Delhi, which is a major hub for the airline with almost 20 per cent or over 70 of the 345 daily flights departing from here when the airline was operating all its flights, is unlikely to be affected as SpiceJet is “current” and maintains a bank guarantee with the airport operator, sources indicated.
Currently, Ajay Singh, one of the founder promoters of the airline, and JP Morgan are proposing to pump in $200 million in the cash-strapped airline. This was an indication that was given to senior officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation late last week.
The new investors plan to buy out the entire over 50 per cent stake of the Marans. The airline is currently controlled by billionaire Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Group.