SpiceJet has encountered more legal woes. The troubled Indian low-cost carrier has been served a contempt of court notice by the Delhi High Court for failing to comply with a previous order to return two Boeing 737 aircraft and three engines to their lessors.
SpiceJet has now been given a final deadline of July 8, 2024, under threat of grounding to return the assets to TWC Aviation Capital, a leasing company which is owed US$14 million by the airline.
The airline said in its defense that it had already returned the two aircraft in June 2024. However, it appears to have done so without their respective engines, which were mounted on other aircraft, and TWC Aviation Capital refused to take delivery of the planes.
The leasing company requested that the aircraft be handed over fully re-equipped with their engines at Delhi (DEL) and Chennai (MAA) airports, where they have been stored.
SpiceJet had reportedly dismounted the engines which are the subject of this litigation and put them on other aircraft, despite a ruling by a British court preventing it from doing so.
This is not the first time that SpiceJet has fought its lessors in court.
In 2023, Wilmington Trust SP Services, Sabarmati Aviation Leasing and Falgu Aviation Leasing requested that Indian aviation regulators ground several SpiceJet aircraft because of unpaid dues. Prior to that, yet another leasing company, Aircastle, filed a legal challenge against SpiceJet for the same reason.