Govt Asks SpiceJet to Resolve Issues on Its Own

Indian government made it clear that troubled airliner SpiceJet will have to itself resolve its financial woes as the carrier extended its cancellations till January 31, affecting over 300 flights.

"We will have to put SpiceJet on cash-and-carry mode from January 1 if we don't receive further orders from the government on the 15-days payment facility by tomorrow," a senior government official said.

The airline will have to furnish bank guarantee for the Airports Authority of India dues, which stand at Rs 200 crore, to avail parking and landing facilities at various government-run airports from Thursday, the official said.

Over 300 flights have been cancelled till January 31, 2015, which include mostly domestic flights and a few connecting Nepal and Afghanistan.

SpiceJet could resume its operations, which remained grounded almost for the entire day on December 17 due to the oil companies refusing to supply jet fuel to the airline for want of cash, after the government lent a helping hand by asking the oil firms and AAI to extend to it 15-days credit facility till December 31.

Meanwhile in a related development, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the Ministry was looking forward to suggestions from the state governments and discussions were underway with all the stakeholders to arrive at a policy which would bring back growth in the aviation sector.

"Policy is a continuously evolving process," he said, adding it would be put in place once the responses from the state governments and other stakeholders were received.

Noting that jet fuel prices contributed majorly to an airline's operating cost, the Minister said that while some states have brought down taxes on the aviation turbine fuel, others have not done so.