National carrier SpiceJet has cancelled all flights from Jabalpur for around two weeks for all routes, as learned recently.
A spokesperson of the airline informed, “There is no shortage of aircraft. However, some aircraft are due for major checks, and hence, to avoid inconvenience to passengers and cancel flights at the last minute, we have temporarily stopped flights to Jabalpur.”
“Also, it should be noted that network review is an ongoing process, and routes with weak demand are regularly and closely monitored and reviewed,” he added.
The flights remain suspended for a period from 2 March until 17 March for now.
Last week, aircraft lessor Carlyle Aviation converted outstanding dues amounting to $100 million into 7.5% stake in the airline SpiceJet Ltd and compulsorily convertible debentures in SpiceXpress, the airline’s cargo arm.
As part of a plan to raise funds to finance growth plans, the company board has also sought shareholders’ approval to raise fresh capital of up to Rs.2,500 crore by issuing securities to qualified institutional buyers. The airline had also said that it has received about Rs.211 crore under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme and is in the process of getting another Rs.764 crore.
According to the flight tracking website flightradar24, the airline currently has 65 aircraft in its fleet out of which only around 40 planes are operational.
As per the latest data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the domestic market share of the airline has declined to 7.3% in January 2023 from 10.6% in January 2022.
