In a dramatic series of events, a SpiceJet flight carrying passengers from Ahmedabad to Dubai was diverted minutes before landing, and seized by a lessor on November 30.
SpiceJet’s SG 15 took off from Ahmedabad at 12.12 a.m. on November 30 and was airborne for three hours, when approximately 10 minutes away from its destination, Dubai International Airport, it was instructed to divert to Dubai’s second and less-busy airport, Al Maktoum International, also known as Dubai World Central (DWC). Once the aircraft landed, it was greeted by lessors who waited for passengers to deplane and seized the aircraft.
The Boeing 737 NG aircraft was leased from Carlyle Aviation Partners in December 2018. The aircraft has since been grounded, according to information from flight tracking website flightradar24.com. A message to an official of Carlyle Aviation Partners, which has a 7.5% stake in SpiceJet after its dues worth $100 million were converted into equity in February, didn’t elicit a response. But industry sources said that an engine lessor obtained a court order to get the aircraft grounded to remove the engines.
