SpiceJet has taken one other significant step towards clearing its dues, with the successful repayment of a loan to a personal Indian bank recently. The airline had a rough 12 months in 2022 and was often at loggerheads with creditors and aerospace firms for not clearing dues on time. However it has been regularly repaying and reaching settlements with various stakeholders because it attempts to scale its business again.
$12 million loan cleared
Indian budget carrier SpiceJet has successfully cleared a loan of ₹1 billion ($12.2 million) to the City Union Bank. The airline took the loan in 2012 and paid its last tranche of ₹250 million ($3 million) on June thirtieth and, with that, managed to release all securities that were pledged with the bank. The airline released a press release in regards to the development on July third and added,
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The loan repayment suggests that the carrier’s funds are stabilizing a bit and has even boosted its market profile. It didn’t take long for SpiceJet’s shares to see a jump and increased by 13% on Monday at ₹30.9 a chunk.
Clearing dues
The most recent development comes close on the heels of SpiceJet reaching a settlement with considered one of its lessors. Last month, it settled its liability issues with Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC), which has leased several Q400 propellor aircraft to the carrier. The airline stated that it entered an agreement with NAC, settling all past liabilities.
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SpiceJet currently has five Q400 airplanes leased from NAC and is within the strategy of adding three more of the sort from the identical lessor. The Dash 8-Q400 is an integral a part of SpiceJet fleet. The propellor aircraft allows it to have a big regional presence in several small and underserved airports as well. SpiceJet operates a lot of its regional flights under the Indian government’s UDAN scheme that provides subsidies for such services. In its recent statement, SpiceJet added,
Looking ahead
SpiceJet is within the strategy of scaling up its business. The airline needed to ground half its fleet in 2022 amid reports of weak funds and incidents of technical glitches on a few of its planes.
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But things are projected to recuperate. SpiceJet recently signed a lease agreement for ten additional Boeing 737s, with deliveries starting in September. A lot of its grounded planes are also within the strategy of being fixed and becoming airworthy again.
With IndiGo and Air India expanding aggressively and even Akasa Air embarking on a fleet and network expansion journey, SpiceJet knows it must bounce back strongly and fast.
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