India’s SpiceJet defaults on daily airport fees

SpiceJet (SG, Delhi Int’l) has defaulted on its “cash-and-carry” payments to the Airports Authority of India for at least four days, two sources told the newspaper Hindu Business Line on August 4.

The authority put SpiceJet on a cash basis in October 2020, forcing it to pay cash upfront each day for all airport services instead of monthly. The move was reportedly over an unpaid debt that at the time exceeded INR1.6 billion rupees (USD21.6 million), although SpiceJet afterwards claimed it had paid part of this debt.

According to the newspaper, the indebted low-cost carrier currently owes INR1.47 billion (USD19.8 million) as a principal amount plus INR780 million (USD10.5 million) in interest.

The airport operator had not received SpiceJet’s daily landing fee for four consecutive days and was likely to take a decision in the coming days as to whether to allow the airline to continue to operate, the sources claimed.

Separately, in a legal confrontation between SpiceJet and the Airports Authority of India at the High Court of Delhi, the airline has been ordered to pay INR200 million (USD2.7 million) to avoid the encashment of its bank guarantees with the airport regulator. This matter also dates back to October 2020, when the airline filed a case at the court because the authority had threatened to invoke the guarantees due to non-payment.

SpiceJet did not immediately respond to ch-aviation’s request for comment.