Beleaguered Indian carrier SpiceJet has cancelled dozens of flights, apparently due to fuel companies’ unwillingness to refuel its aircraft.
In a pair of tweets, carrier chief operating officer Sanjiv Kapoor has apologised to passengers for the “disruption and pain caused due to the stoppage of fuelling of our flights by the oil cos.”
He adds that the carrier is “working to resolve the issue.” He says the carrier owes fuel suppliers INR140 million ($2.2 million), but that it spends INR30 billion on fuel annually.
Kapoor’s comments come amid major flight cancellations on the part of the carrier, which have been widely reported by Indian media. There are also rampant social media reports about the grounding of flights, and also predicting the imminent failure of the carrier.
AirTeamImages
The departures page of New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport web site previously listed a number of cancellations for the carrier, but these appear to have been removed.
According to the site, the next SpiceJet flight – SG 2625 to Jaipur – will depart at
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 shows a lack of ‘SG’ tagged aircraft in the air.
Meanwhile, media reports indicate that India’s government has asked local banks to extend loans of INR6 billion to the troubled carrier. It is far from clear that this assistance, if indeed it is forthcoming, will be enough to save the carrier.
If SpiceJet is permanently grounded, it will be the second major Indian carrier to fail in three years, following the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines in 2012.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
