On March 10, it has been revealed that the Indian carrier, SpiceJet, had two of its Boeing 737s deregistered and repossessed from its fleet.
This article will cover the details as to why two of SpiceJet’s Boeing 737s have been removed from their fleet.
Two of SpiceJet’s 737s Removed…
The two aircraft in question are registered as VT-SYA and VT-SZK. Both aircraft are Boeing 737-800 Next Generation and are aged 16 and 9 years old respectively. Both were on lease from Aircastle.
VT-SZK was deregistered on March 7 and VT-SYA was deregistered on March 9.
Aircastle was the company that requested the deregistration of the two aircraft, whereby they had requested the DGCA, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation to commence their IDERA, Irrevocable De-Registration and Export Request Authorization process against the Indian carrier for both aircraft.
These two aircraft join a previous count of three Boeing 737s that were deregistered from SpiceJet back in August 2022, which we covered in the article here.
The previous three aircraft that were deregistered in August 2022 come from a request from the Dubai-based lessor, DAE Capital, whereby the repossession was ordered on the carrier due to unpaid dues.
With these two more aircraft being repossessed from their fleet, SpiceJet’s total aircraft count now falls to 67 with a breakdown as follows –
- 13x Boeing 737 MAX 8s.
- 22x Boeing 737-800 NGs.
- 5x Boeing 737-700 NGs.
- 3x Boeing 737-700 BDSFs (BEDEK Special Freighter).
- 3x Boeing 737-900 ERs.
- 28x Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s.
Spokesperson Comments…
A spokesperson for the Indian carrier has said this regarding the latest two Boeing 737s to be repossessed from their fleet, “While one of the aircraft is grounded for a long period and was to be returned earlier, the other is being returned due to certain engine issues with lessor.”
“Both aircraft are being returned in the most efficient manner consensually. This will have no impact on our operations”.
Overall…
Although the carrier has stated that this will not impact operations for them, it is yet another stumbling block in what has been a rather troublesome few years for them.
SpiceJet still has aircraft orders for a further 15x Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s, 17x Boeing 737-700 Freighters, and 189x Boeing 737 MAX 8s. This should hopefully bring clearer skies for the Indian carrier over the coming years.
