New Delhi: Low-cost carrier SpiceJet has cancelled all flights from Jabalpur for around two weeks for all routes, Mint has learnt.
The carrier had flight operations from Jabalpur for Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad. The flights have been cancelled for a period from 2 March until 17 March for now, an official said.
“There is no shortage of aircraft. However, some aircraft are due for major checks, and hence, to avoid inconvenience to passengers and cancel flights at the last minute, we have temporarily stopped flights to Jabalpur,” a spokesperson of the airline said in a response to Mint’s query.
“It should also be noted that network review is an ongoing process, and routes with weak demand are closely monitored and reviewed,” he added.
Last week, aircraft lessor Carlyle Aviation converted outstanding dues amounting to $100 million into 7.5% stake in the airline SpiceJet Ltd and compulsorily convertible debentures in SpiceXpress, the airline’s cargo arm.
“The transaction will substantially deleverage our balance sheet, thereby allowing us to access fresh funds at a competitive rate, and we aim to follow suit with other lessors as well in the near term,” said Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of SpiceJet on the stake sale exercise.
As part of a plan to raise funds to finance growth plans, the company board has also sought shareholders’ approval to raise fresh capital of up to ₹2,500 crore or $301.9 million through an issue of securities to qualified institutional buyers. The airline had also said last week that it has received about ₹211 crore under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme and is in the process of getting another ₹764 crore.
According to the flight tracking website flightradar24, the airline currently has 65 aircraft in its fleet, but the operational fleet is around 40 planes
The domestic market share of the airline has declined to 7.3% in January 2023 from 10.6% in January 2022, as per data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. WhatsApp will launch new payment feature in this country. Details here
