'Court ruling may affect SpiceJet passengers'

SpiceJet passengers, especially vacationers, may face a hard time again including paying higher fares with the Delhi High Court directing aviation regulator DGCA today to deregister six Boeing planes of the budget carrier SpiceJet, even as the airline said it was not expecting any disruption in services following the order.
"Withdrawing six aircraft from the fleet means a significant reduction in capacity. This would have a direct impact on the airline's passengers as well as air travellers," Mumbai-based travel firm Nomad Travel's chief executive and Travel Agents Federation of India's former general secretary Ajay Prakash said here.
SpiceJet currently has 32 aircraft in the fleet with 17 of them Boeing 737-800 and remaining 78-seater Bombardier Q400s. If six of them are withdrawn, the budget carrier would be left with 26 planes only.

Apprehending large scale cancellations of flights by the carrier after it takes off six of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft from operations, Prakash said the mismatch in demand and supply could also lead to other carriers' hiking fares.
"The ruling has come just around the peak summer travel period. Any reduction in capacity would mean other airlines increasing fares in view of high travel demand," he said.
In a severe blow to the airline, which is still in the revival stage following the change of ownership, Delhi High Court today directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to deregister six Boeing 737 aircraft given to the carrier on lease by some foreign firms.

An airline cannot operate an aircraft once it is deregistered by the DGCA.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher, while issuing the direction to DGCA, also said that the aviation regulator will decide in two weeks the Irish firms' plea to export the planes, majority of which are Boeing 737 aircraft.