Two companies owned by the Chinese Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) asked the Indian aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to deregister four Boeing 737 MAX aircraft leased to Indian budget airline SpiceJet. The four jets are currently grounded and out of service, which SpiceJet says is due to manufacturing issues with the high-pressure turbines in their engines, according to Reuters.
The Irish companies Sky High LXXVIII Leasing Company Ltd. and Sky High LXXX Leasing Company Ltd., which leased the four Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to SpiceJet and applied to deregister them, are taking what is seen as the first legal steps to repossess the jets.
This comes amid mounting liquidity pressures on the Indian budget airline SpiceJet, which announced it will reduce its flight schedule by 44% in July 2026 and has reduced its operational fleet from around 57 aircraft in 2021 to 11 this year.
A SpiceJet spokesperson told Reuters:
“The de-registration of these aircraft will eliminate lease rental costs on assets that have remained non-operational for a prolonged period”
SpiceJet is an Indian low-cost airline with both domestic and international services across Asia, including Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Dubai International Airport (DXB), and Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM).
SpiceJet’s fleet consisted of Boeing 737-700s, 737-800s and 737-900ERs.
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