A Dubai-based lessor of SpiceJet Ltd has asked India’s aviation regulator to de-register three of the budget airline’s planes as SpiceJet struggles with high costs and maintenance challenges.
The United Arab Emirates aeronautics firm AWAS did not specify why it was seeking to deregister the three Boeing 737s in Friday’s notification, published by India’s aviation regulator.
SpiceJet was returning older aircraft in a phased manner, including these three aircraft, as a part of modernization plan, as reported by news agency Reuters.
“These returns have been planned and will not have any impact on our operations,” a company spokesman said by email. SpiceJet returned 12 old Boeing aircraft to lessors last year, the statement said.
AWAS did not immediately reply to a email seeking comment.
India’s director general of civil aviation on Wednesday ordered SpiceJet to halve its departures for eight weeks after technical problems raised safety concerns.
Lessors typically apply for deregistration when lease agreements are terminated for reasons including nonpayment of lease rentals.
AWAS filed its request under Irrevocable Deregistration and Export Request Authorisations provisions, which are typically filed after payment negotiations between a lessor and airline fail.
Passenger safety paramount, says Scindia
On Friday, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that “DGCA is the safety regulator and in the last 10 days itself, many new actions have been taken by it”, while asserting that passenger safety is paramount to the government.
He added that better check and audits of aircraft by engineers is being implemented by DGCA to tackle the issue of increased technical snags being reported by different airlines in the country.
Scindia was speaking to reporters during his two-day visit to Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency as part of BJP’s ‘Sansad Pravas Yojana’.