After four planes, Irish firm asks DGCA to de-register 2 more Boeing 737s leased to SpiceJet

NEW DELHI: Lessors of two more aircraft currently with SpiceJet have approached the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to de-register their planes rented to the airline. These latest requests come after similar pleas for de-registering four Boeing 737s leased to the low cost carrier in the last one month which were then re-possessed by the lessors.
All these requests have been made under the provisions of Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorisations (IDERA) that is a part of the Cape Town Convention and provides for the owner of an aircraft to get an aircraft de-registered from the name of a third party in cases like default of lease rentals. The regulator has to decide on the lessors’ IDERA request within five days. “The DGCA has to check with various authorities if there are any tax dues on the aircraft within the given time frame. The idea is to ensure aircraft lessors don’t face issues in repossessing planes from defaulting (on lease rentals)/defunct airlines,” say officials.