Chinese lessor moves DGCA to deregister, repossess four SpiceJet aircraft

New Delhi/Mumbai: A Chinese aircraft and leasing company has written to India’s aviation regulator seeking deregistration of four narrow-bodied Boeing planes of SpiceJet, as it kickstarts the process of seeking repossession of these grounded aircraft.

A spokesperson for the airline told Mint the move would have no impact on its operations as the aircraft have been out of service for some time.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday published notices relating to repossession of four planes under the Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorisation (Idera) mechanism. The requests came from two Dublin-based lessors, Sky High LXXVIII Leasing Co. Ltd and Sky High LXXX Leasing Co. Ltd.

Both the lessors are special purpose vehicles (SPVs) owned by ICBCIL Aviation Co. Ltd, an aircraft leasing entity and a wholly owned subsidiary of ICBC Financial Leasing Co. Ltd., which, in turn, is wholly owned by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

The DGCA had received these repossession requests on 9 July and had emailed the concerned person of the airlines on 10 July. On Monday, 13 July, the DGCA uploaded the notices on its website.

Under the Idera framework, incorporated under the Cape Town Convention, aircraft lessors can seek deregistration and repossession of leased aircraft in the event of a default, law firm Sarin & Co. said in a post on social media platform X.

The Idera framework empowers lessors to get their aircraft deregistered, repossess and fly them out in cases like lease payment defaults.

The applications seek deregistration of four Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft bearing Indian registration marks, a mandatory step before leased aircraft can be repossessed and exported under Indian aviation rules. Two of these aircraft are parked at Hyderabad, one at Amritsar and the other at Delhi.

ICBC is yet to respond to an emailed query from Mint.

“These aircraft have been grounded for a long period due to engine HPT (high-pressure turbine) manufacturing issues,” the SpiceJet spokesperson said.

The affected aircraft are powered by CFM International LEAP-1B engines, which have been hit by industry-wide durability issues that have forced airlines globally to ground aircraft for inspections and replacement of key components.

“The deregistration of these aircraft will eliminate lease rental costs on assets that have remained non-operational for a prolonged period,” the spokesperson added. “There is no impact on the airline’s operations, as these aircraft have been out of service for a considerable time.”

The spokesperson added that the airline continues to remain in discussions with the lessor and original equipment manufacturer regarding return to service of these aircraft.

Legal experts, however, say deregistration by the DGCA would bring down the fleet size of SpiceJet and could impact operations.

Tushar Kumar, advocate at the Supreme Court of India, said: “Invocation of the Idera mechanism is ordinarily resorted to when a lessor considers that contractual defaults have reached a stage warranting enforcement of its proprietary rights in the aircraft.”

He said that such applications have historically been infrequent in India, but “have become increasingly prominent in the wake of recent airline distress and insolvency proceedings, reflecting a discernible shift towards more assertive enforcement by aircraft financiers and lessors”.

Upon deregistration, the aircraft would cease to be available for lawful operation under the airline’s Indian registration, enabling the lessors to redeploy them elsewhere within their global portfolios or place them with alternative operators, Kumar said.

“An Idera filing begins the statutory process for cancelling Indian registration and recovering/exporting the aircraft,” said Rohit Jain, managing partner at law firm Singhania & Co.

“Once DGCA cancels the aircraft’s Indian registration pursuant to a valid IDERA request, the airline can no longer lawfully operate it as an Indian-registered aircraft,” he said, adding that this removes a major practical obstacle to the lessor taking possession, arranging maintenance, obtaining export documentation and exporting or re-leasing the aircraft.

“These filings arose prominently in Go First and, more recently, FlyBig. India now has a clearer creditor-enforcement regime,” Jain said.

According to aviation database website Planespotters.net, SpiceJet currently has 11 operational aircraft, and 42 remain parked.

SpiceJet has been grappling with losses and cash strain. For the first nine months of fiscal year 2026 (FY26), it reported a standalone net loss of ₹1,138.15 crore. Losses widened over the ₹266.8 crore it reported in the year-ago-period.

Its standalone revenue from operations stood at ₹3,271.5 crore for the period ending 31 December 2025, down 14% over the year-ago-period.

The airline is yet to declare its FY26 annual results and January-March quarter (Q4) earnings.

Data from UK-based aviation analytics firm OAG shows SpiceJet has 1,855 scheduled domestic departures in July, down about 28% from 2,578 departures a year earlier, indicating continued strain on its operations.

As per the DGCA’s last released May data, SpiceJet’s domestic market share is below 3%.