SpiceJet’s long-running battle with aircraft lessors has entered another chapter, with four Boeing 737 MAX aircraft now facing deregistration and repossession after their owners initiated proceedings with India’s aviation regulator.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has published notices under the Irrevocable Deregistration and Export Request Authorisation (IDERA) framework, beginning the legal process that could allow the aircraft to be removed from the Indian register and returned to their owners.
Four Boeing 737 MAX aircraft could leave the SpiceJet fleet
The applications relate to four Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft currently registered in India. According to the DGCA notices, the requests were submitted on July 9, 2026, with the regulator notifying the airline the following day before publishing the notices on July 13.
SpiceJet’s grounded 737 MAX aircraft
The applications have been filed by Dublin-based entities Sky High LXXVIII Leasing Co. Ltd. and Sky High LXXX Leasing Co. Ltd.; both companies are special purpose vehicles owned by ICBCIL Aviation Co. Ltd., the aircraft leasing arm of ICBC Financial Leasing, which is ultimately owned by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
According to the notices, two of the aircraft are currently parked in Hyderabad, while one each is parked in Delhi and Amritsar. None of them have been operating commercial services for over a year.
What is IDERA?
The action has been initiated under the IDERA mechanism, which forms part of the Cape Town Convention adopted by India.
An IDERA is effectively a legal instrument that gives aircraft owners and financiers the ability to recover leased aircraft if an airline defaults on its contractual obligations. Once invoked, the DGCA can deregister the aircraft, allowing the lessor to repossess and export it for placement with another airline.
The mechanism became widely discussed during the Jet Airways and Go First insolvencies, when multiple aircraft lessors sought to recover their aircraft after the airlines suspended operations. Since then, India’s enforcement of Cape Town Convention obligations has become significantly clearer, giving aircraft owners greater confidence in recovering assets from financially distressed carriers.
SpiceJet says there will be no operational impact
SpiceJet has sought to downplay the development, stating that the four aircraft have already been grounded for an extended period due to High Pressure Turbine engine manufacturing issues.
The airline said the aircraft have remained non-operational for a considerable period and therefore their deregistration will have no impact on the current flight schedule. It also added that removing these aircraft from its fleet would eliminate lease rental expenses on aircraft that have not been generating revenue.
Another reminder of SpiceJet’s continuing financial challenges
While these four aircraft are not currently contributing to SpiceJet’s operations, the move is another reminder that the airline continues to deal with the consequences of years of financial stress. The airline has a massive order book for the 737 MAX aircraft, and the first aircraft arrived in 2018. The four grounded aircraft were all delivered in 2018 and are being requested to be returned. The airline stopped accepting aircraft after that, citing the MAX groundings, and never resumed. Some of its assigned aircraft were taken over by Southwest, and Boeing has stopped worrying about SpiceJet, with no more MSNs assigned for now.
Despite raising fresh capital over the past two years and promising a restoration of grounded aircraft to service, SpiceJet still has a large proportion of its fleet parked. The airline used the funds god knows how, and is now back looking to borrow from the Government of India under the emergency credit guarantee scheme. Industry data indicates that the airline’s operational fleet remains a fraction of its total owned and leased aircraft, with only 9 737s of all vintages and 2 Q400S operational. Its domestic market share has slipped below 3% in recent months. Scheduled departures have also reduced substantially compared to last year. The airline hardly operates flights on time anymore.
Once an aircraft is deregistered, it can no longer legally operate under Indian registration, allowing the lessor to take possession, complete the necessary export formalities and place it elsewhere in its global portfolio.
For SpiceJet, losing these aircraft may not immediately affect its published schedules because they have been inactive for months. However, it also means one fewer avenue for rebuilding capacity once the airline’s financial position improves.
Bottomline
The repossession process for four SpiceJet Boeing 737 MAX aircraft has formally begun under the IDERA framework, marking yet another chapter in the airline’s long-running engagement with aircraft lessors. Since the aircraft have been grounded for an extended period, passengers are unlikely to notice any immediate operational impact. Nevertheless, the development underscores the challenges that continue to confront SpiceJet.
What do you think of SpiceJet attempting to keep its boat afloat?
Liked our articles and our efforts? Please pay an amount you are comfortable with; an amount you believe is the fair price for the content you have consumed. Please enter an amount in the box below and click on the button to pay; you can use Netbanking, Debit/Credit Cards, UPI, QR codes, or any Wallet to pay. Every contribution helps cover the cost of the content generated for your benefit.
(Important: to receive confirmation and details of your transaction, please enter a valid email address in the pop-up form that will appear after you click the ‘Pay Now’ button. For international transactions, use Paypal to process the transaction.)
We are not putting our articles behind any paywall where you are asked to pay before you read an article. We are asking you to pay after you have read the article if you are satisfied with the quality and our efforts.
Well, the faster this red airline winds down and disappears the better and lesser the red ink it will spill. Nobody will miss it and it will also be a relief for the exchequer keeping this naughty company alive. Siphoning off funds, cooked up account books and fleecing it’s own employees can be learnt from this company aplenty with not an iota of shame.