New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) Flight services of cash-strapped SpiceJet were grounded this morning due to the oil companies refusing fuel supplies to the carrier for non-payment even as the airlines said it will resume operations by this evening.
Not even a single SpiceJet flight could take off since this morning due to fuel supply issue with the oil companies.
COO Sanjiv Kapoor tweeted, “Flights scheduled to depart on or after 4pm today will operate. We apologise again for the disruptions.”
The Civil Aviation Ministry had yesterday said it will request the oil companies and the airport operators to extend a 15-day credit facility to SpiceJet in a bid to save the airline from shutting down.
The Aviation Ministry had said it may request Indian banks/financial institutions to extended loans of upto Rs 600 crore to the airline as part of measures to keep the carrier functional.
Besides, it will also request the Finance Ministry to permit external commercial borrowing (ECB) for working capital as special dispensation.
The measures, however, comes with a rider that the beleaguered airline will commit capital infusion at the earliest.
The steps came after SpiceJet’s Chief Operating Officer Sanjiv Kapoor, along with Sun Group CFO S L Narayanan, met the Civil Aviation Minister and DGCA Prabhat Kumar on Monday and sought the government’s help to overcome the crisis.
“Indian banks may be requested to give some working capital loan based on the assurances of the promoter. Banks or financial institutions to lend up to Rs 600 crore backed by a personal guarantee of the Chairman, SpiceJet,” a ministry release had said.
At the same time, the airline, with total liabilities standing at Rs 2,000 crore, including dues to the public sector oil firms and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), may get credit facility for up to 15 days from the oil firms and AAI, the government had said.
