Beleaguered low-cost carrier SpiceJet seems to have received a temporary breather from the government, official sources told FE. With the loss-making airline making an interim payment of R5 crore on Wednesday against dues of about R200 crore to state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI), the ministry of civil aviation has allowed it time till Monday (December 15) to furnish the balance.
This comes after the government’s current deadline for payment ended on Wednesday (December 10). Incidentally, SpiceJet was also offered an alternative option to furnish equivalent bank guarantees, though bankers told FE that it was unlikely it will receive any such guarantee without security.
“The issue has been handled. We are not on cash and carry for any airport,” a SpiceJet official confirmed the development.
If the government had stood its ground, Kalanithi Maran-promoted SpiceJet would have been put on a cash and carry mode under which it would have had to clear all airport charges like landing and parking fees each time a flight takes off.
Separately, SpiceJet also has to submit a payment plan to aviation regulator DGCA by Monday (December 15) in order to assure the regulator that the airline’s financials are strong enough to carry on operations with no threat to safety. Official sources said that the airline owes about Rs 1,600 crore to various vendors and business partners — including about R700 crore to lessors for aircraft, though company officials have claimed that the figures is “significantly less”.
On Tuesday, top SpiceJet executives like COO Sanjiv Kapoor, and officials from promoter Chennai-based Sun Group, such as group CFO S L Narayan, met DGCA Prabhat Kumar and other top government officials.