SpiceJet has agreed to pay all outstanding dues to Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin) Ltd by March 31 for the three Boeing 737 aircraft that it had leased from Irish lessor.

In a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the airline said it had entered into a “settlement agreement” with Wilmington. Under the agreement, Wilmington Trust has agreed to withdraw the court proceedings and the de-registration process of the aircraft if SpiceJet pays its dues, the statement added. The move comes days after the Delhi High Court asked the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation to de-register six aircraft given on lease to SpiceJet by two Irish leasing companies.

Last Thursday, an agency report said that Justice Rajiv Shakdher, while issuing the direction to DGCA, said that the aviation regulator will decide in two weeks the Irish firms’ plea to export the planes, a majority of which are Boeing 737 aircraft.

The judgment came on the pleas of AWAS Ireland Ltd and Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin) Ltd which had moved the court seeking directions to the DGCA to d-eregister the aircraft they had given on lease to SpiceJet and for which the airline had allegedly not paid dues. 

SpiceJet did not comment on the amount it owes the leasing company. Industry watchers say that the monthly lease rental for a Boeing 737 or Airbus 320 aircraft is in the region of $250,000 to $275,000 and generally leasing companies do not press the panic buttons till an airline defaults or delays payments for more than four months.

Sources said that the industry practice is to seek anything between 4 and 6 months of monthly rental in upfront payment as a guarantee before giving the aircraft to an airline.

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