The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed budget airline SpiceJet to pay $2.67 million to aircraft engine lessor Team France 01 SAS within one week for using its three engines. The payment is part of a broader $6 million debt the airline owes to the lessor.
Justice Anish Dayal, presiding over the case, also ordered SpiceJet to deposit an additional $335,999 with the court registrar within three weeks.
SpiceJet’s chairman and managing director, Ajay Singh, along with the company’s chief financial officer, Joyakesh Podder, appeared in court and pledged to meet the payment deadlines. Their attendance followed a summons issued in December 2024.
The airline had requested the court to permit it to settle the outstanding dues by issuing company shares, citing financial constraints. However, the court rejected this plea.
The legal dispute stems from unpaid dues owed to Team France 01 SAS and Sunbird France 02 SAS, which initially exceeded $20 million but have since reduced to approximately $6 million.
In May, the court issued an interim order requiring SpiceJet to pay $4.8 million in outstanding dues along with weekly installments for continued use of the engines. The airline failed to meet these conditions, leading to orders in August to ground three engines and return them for inspection. Although the engines were eventually returned in November, the payments remained unresolved.
In recent months, SpiceJet has been working to address various financial disputes with lessors and creditors. Since October, the airline has reportedly used internal cash reserves to meet obligations such as employee provident fund and tax payments. Recently, SpiceJet announced that it had cleared provident fund dues amounting to Rs 160.07 crore.