21 aircraft of SpiceJet are operational

Cash strapped low cost carrier SpiceJet, said that it expects to restart operations of 10 grounded aircraft by April 2026 as more than half of its fleet remains on the ground due to unavailability of spare parts.

The airline said in an investor presentation that out of 56 aircraft it has 21 aircraft operational while the remaining stay grounded. Out of the eight Boeing 737 Max- the most modern aircraft in its fleet, only one is operational.

The airline’s rivals IndiGo, Air India and Akasa have 349, 170 30 aircraft flying respectively.

The airline said that it has also secured 10 Boeing 737 aircraft on short term lease to be inducted from October while discussions underway for additional inductions of narrow body and wide body aircraft during October and November 2025.

This, it said, will allow it to cash on the increased demand during the festival and year end season.

After raising Rs 3,000 crore last year, SpiceJet owner Ajay Singh had said it will be operating 40 aircraft by March and add more to have a fleet of 100 aircraft by end of 2026.

But things haven’t turned around as planned as it has been unable to get new aircraft while most of the fund has been used to clear statutory dues. At the end of June, the airline has free cash of Rs 333 crore left, the airline said in the presentation.

The airline has been trying to settle with creditors. On Monday, it said that it has completed a payment of $24 million to Credit Suisse as part of its settlement agreed upon in May 2022.

Last week, the airline reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 236.6 crore in the first quarter of FY26.

"Non-operation of certain parts of the entire aircraft fleet for awaited maintenance, coupled with airspace restrictions owing to geopolitical tensions affected the profitability of the company during the quarter. Further, an event of a tragic accident in the Indian aviation sector also subdued the customer sentiment, substantially impacting the performance for the quarter," said Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh.

The airline earned Rs 5.47 per seat flown for one kilometre (Revenue per Available Seat Kilometer) while losing Rs 6.56 (Cost per Available Seat Kilometer).