Aerospace Diary

Some of SpiceJet's Boeing 737-800s stand subject to repossession in the next ten days. (Photo: Boeing) By  Neelam Mathews   December 17, 2014, 1:07 PM Travelers faced serious disruption   at major airports in India on Wednesday when low-fare airline SpiceJet canceled operations for the day as oil companies refused to supply aviation fuel until it paid past dues. A skeleton service started by late evening, however, after India’s civil aviation ministry asked fuel providers to extend credit to the airline for 15 days. SpiceJet defaults have created a panic reaction as lessors flock to repossess their aircraft “before a situation arises similar to Kingfisher Airlines when aircraft were cannibalized and up to $40 million an aircraft was borne by the lessors to refit aircraft,” one aircraft lessor told  AIN ,  speaking on condition of anonymity. Of the airline’s 19 Boeing 737s, 17 remain in operation and five stand subject to repossessi...

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  AUGUST 19, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS United Breweries Group chairman Vijay Mallya launched Kingfisher Airlines in 2005. (Photo: Neelam Mathews) August 19, 2013, 12:45 PM The death knell for India’s Kingfisher Airlines sounded as lender banks took possession of the airline’s 25,850-sq-ft headquarters property in Mumbai on August 10. Carrying some $1 billion in outstanding debt, liquor tsar Vijay Mallya and his United Breweries Group have seen wholly owned Kingfisher accumulate $2.6 billion in losses since its launch in 2005. Most recently, it registered a loss of $188 million for the quarter running from April to June. Once again it collected no revenue due to its  grounding on October 1  of last year. It still technically employs some 2,000 people, none of whom it has paid for the past 10 months, and retains a fleet of 15 airplanes out its former complement of 66, including three self-o...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews August 5, 2012 Only in India! Non-payment of bills makes for strange bedfellows! A wire news says Authority of India has refused to allow some lessors to retrieve around six aircraft leased out to Kingfisher Airlines parked at Chennai airport. KFA owes AAI around 300 crores for landing and parking fees, sources say. One of the lessors has sent a legal notice to AAI for not passing the release order. AAI's contention is that it can not let the aircraft go, as it too has to recover dues of about Rs 300 crore on account of landing and parking fees from the near-bankrupt KFA. An AAI spokesperson  is believed to have confirmed the development. The airline, which has not paid salaries to its employees for the past six months has been defaulting on payments to most vendors it deals with. "This is absolutely normal. I am not surprised, lessor will have to pay airport fees to retrieve the aircraft," says a Mumbai-based analyst.

Posted by- Neelam Mathews March 26, 2012 A vast majority of airlines and lessors are being forced to secure new, alternative sources of finance to stay in business, according to a new survey by aviation experts Ascend. The global aviation sector needs US$83 billion to cover 1,500 scheduled deliveries of jet and turbo prop planes this year – but accessing those funds is becoming increasingly difficult.  Ascend’s global survey says 73 percent of aviation professionals are seeking financing outside their current relationships with banks and established lenders.  Prior to 2008, this level of difficulty in aircraft financing was unthinkable, says Ascend’s Head of Consultancy in Asia, Paul Sheridan, adding, “To enable deliveries to continue, ever more creative financing options are being forced on the industry.”   Seventy-two percent of the airlines polled said they would be financing their deliveries, both this year and next, with debt – highlighting the importance o...