AFP/New Delhi


Beleaguered budget airline SpiceJet announced plans yesterday for a change of ownership in a bid to turnaround the carrier’s

fortunes after months of struggling to stay afloat.
Co-founder Ajay Singh has agreed to buy a majority stake in SpiceJet from its billionaire owner Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Group and

his KAL Airways as part of plans to revive the no-frills airline, one of India’s leading carriers.
The deal will still need approval from the civil aviation ministry as part of SpiceJet’s “reconstruction and revival” plan, the

airline’s board said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
It did not disclose the financial details of the deal.
Maran and KAL Airways own about 53% of SpiceJet with the stake worth more than $80mn, according to media estimates.  
“The whole deal will take a few days to go through since there are procedures to be followed with the government,” Sanjiv Kapoor,

SpiceJet’s chief operating officer, told reporters.
“We apologise to our customers for the difficulties they have faced while flying with us and we expect to resume normal

operations in a short while.”
SpiceJet has for months been struggling to keep flights operating as debts pile up. The airline was briefly grounded last month

as suppliers refused to refuel planes due to unpaid bills.
Maran earlier declared that he couldn’t afford to bail out the airline after spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the

carrier.
Under the terms of the new deal, the media mogul would to transfer the ownership, management and control of SpiceJet to Singh,

who helped set up the airline in 2005.
“We think whatever relief is required in the larger interest of preserving the airline would be forthcoming from the government

and the regulator,” Sun Group Chief Financial Officer S L Narayanan told the ET NOW television network.
Narayanan said Sun Group, which bought into SpiceJet in 2010, would remain a minority shareholder.
Analysts say Singh, who has reportedly partnered with at least one private equity investor, will need cash to help pay SpiceJet’s

immediate dues, and then to help cut costs that have left SpiceJet unprofitable since 2013.
It was not immediately clear how would he raise the funds.
“Survival for SpiceJet requires a lot of things to materialise,” said Harsh Vardhan of Starair Consulting. “It needs a large

chunk of cash flow, it needs operations streamlined. And a lot of it will depend on the competition.”
India’s aviation market is expected to be the third-largest globally within a decade.