CHENNAI: Turbulent low cost carrier SpiceJet has been asked by Airports Authority of India (AAI) to pay their outstanding dues of Rs.200 crore by Wednesday, failing which they will be put on cash-and-carry mode from the minute 2015 dawns.
Confirming the move, a senior AAI official said, “Their deadline is ending tomorrow and till 8 pm on Tuesday, they had not made the payment. Assurances have been made that the money will come tomorrow, but if it doesn’t, the MoCA has asked us to enforce the cash-and-carry mode for Spicejet.” The airline first ran into heavy weather with AAI over unpaid dues in the first week of December and managed an extension till the second week - following partial payment. After the ministry gave them a little respite, AAI agreed to allow them leeway to operate on credit till December 31.
Though SpiceJet has said that they’re “confident” of clearing these dues, what happened on Tuesday wasn’t a great show of faith. The rescheduling and cancellation of over 120 flights, supposed to last till December 31, has been quietly extended till the end of January - as the financial restructuring plan hasn’t really kicked in yet.