SpiceJet passengers stranded at Dubai airport after flight cancellations
Mumbai (PTI): Hundreds of SpiceJet passengers were stranded at the Dubai airport on Wednesday after some flights were cancelled due to to non-payment of dues by the airline to the Dubai airport authorities, according to a source.
A SpiceJet spokesperson on Thursday said few flights from Dubai to India were cancelled due to operational reasons on Wednesday but did not elaborate.
The source in the know said around 10 SpiceJet flights, which were to be operated to various Indian cities from Dubai, were cancelled due to non-payment of dues.
Hundreds of passengers were stranded at Dubai airport as a result of this, the source said.
"On July 31, 2024, a few flights from Dubai to India were cancelled due to operational reasons.
"The airline took immediate steps to mitigate the impact by rebooking affected passengers on subsequent flights and providing hotel accommodations," the airline spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that all its scheduled flights from Dubai are now operating as planned.
Ajay Singh-promoted debt-ridden SpiceJet has been struggling for funds for quite some time now with the airline delaying salaries to its staff and payments to its vendors.
It has also reportedly not deposited the Employee Provident Fund Contributions to its 11,581 staff since January 2022.
Though the airline reported a standalone profit of Rs 119 crore in the January-March quarter of the previous fiscal, for the December quarter of the same year its losses stood at Rs 301.45 crore as against a profit of Rs 106.82 crore in FY23.
For full fiscal 2023-24, the airline posted a loss of Rs 409.43 crore against a loss of Rs 1,503 crore in FY23, the filing said.
On July 23, SpiceJet's board approved the airline's proposal to raise up to Rs 3,000 crore by issuing equity shares or other securities through the qualified institutional placement (QIP) process.
In January this year, SpiceJet received in-principle approval from the BSE for a fund infusion of Rs 2,242 crore but could mop up only Rs 1,060 crore under preferential issue in two tranches.
As on August 2 as many as 37 aircraft -- 18 Boeing 737 and 18 regional jets Q400 and one A340 -- were on ground, owing to multiple reasons, as per the aircraft fleet tracking website planespotter.net.
SpiceJet has a total of 59 planes in its fleet which include 32 Boeing737 and 24 Q400.
Besides, it also has one Airbus 340 and two Airbus A320, which are on wet-lease.
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Realtor 'suicide': K'taka HM directs police to investigate circumstances that led to incident
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said the police have been directed to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the "suicide" of Confident Group chairperson C J Roy, who allegedly shot himself dead his office here when I-T officials were present in connection with earlier searches.
Speaking to reporters, Parameshwara said the Income Tax Department had earlier conducted searches at Roy's company and were in the process of completing statutory procedures.
"There was a raid in his company in December (last). There is a rule that within 60 days a charge sheet has to be filed in the court. They had to finalise before February 4. Hence, he was summoned," he said.
Roy had recently returned from abroad and was cooperating with the authorities, he added.
"Three days ago, he had returned from Dubai. The I-T officials went to his office to record his statement. He too responded to it," Parameshwara said.
"In the meantime, Roy told the officials that he would be back in five minutes but he did not return even after 20 minutes. Then his suicide came to the notice."
Parameshwara said he has ordered a police inquiry into the incident.
"I have directed police officials to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the incident. Things will be clear only after the report comes out," he said.
He added that Roy's family has linked the incident to the I-T action. "Roy's brother has also given a statement that this incident happened due to I-T raids. Our police officers haven't looked into it from that aspect," he said.
When asked whether there was any political angle to the increasing Income Tax raids, the HM declined to speculate.
"As the Home Minister I would not say anything more than it," he said.
Clarifying on the scope of the probe, Parameshwara said, "Police will only investigate the suicide case. If something else emerges then that will also be investigated."
Real estate tycoon Roy, who was in his late 50s, suffered bullet injuries from his licensed firearm at his office near Richmond Circle in the city.
Soon after a gunshot was heard, staff members rushed to his room and found him lying in a pool of blood. He was immediately taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
I-T sources said searches on Roy's premises had begun about two months ago.
Roy's brother has alleged that he might have taken the extreme step due to pressure from the central agency.
Roy was originally from Kerala.
