NCLT adjourns Wilmington Trust insolvency plea against SpiceJet

NCLT adjourns Wilmington Trust insolvency plea against SpiceJet

The matter is listed to be heard on16 July

In a petition filed by aircraft lessor Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin) Ltd for initiating the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against Indian low-cost carrier Spicejet, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has adjourned the matter.

This is the third case filed by the company against the airline. Two other cases under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) have been filed by aircraft lessor Aircastle (Ireland) Ltd and engine lessor Willis Lease Finance Corporation.

Aircastle filed a CIRP petition against Spicejet on 28 April, which is listed before the bench on 16 July. The Willis petition is listed before the court on 4 July.

On 5 June, Spicejet had filed an application in the Aircastle case, questioning the maintainability of the petition. The senior counsel appearing for Spicejet claimed two defects in the petition. He argued that given that the debt fell due in February 2021, it was protected from default under Section 10 of the IBC.

In March, Wilmington and Aircastle had got two aircraft deregistered from the Director General of Civil Aviation under the provisions of Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorisations (IDERA).

The lessor invoked an IDERA to deregister and repossess aircraft following default on rental payments.