SpiceJet scrip fall 8% as Max 737 aircraft grounded

Mumbai, March 13 (IANS) The stock of Budget carrier SpiceJet, which operates the largest fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in India, fell 8 per cent during the early trade on Wednesday, a day after the Indian civil aviation regulator ordered grounding of all such planes.

Shares of SpiceJet, which has 12 of the total 17 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in India,
fell 7.9 per cent to touch an intra-day low of Rs 72.50 per share on the BSE around 10.30 a.m.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) late on Tuesday ordered "grounding the Boeing 737-MAX planes immediately" after aviation authorities across the globe, with the notable exception of the US, decided to ground the particular aircraft following Sunday's crash of an Ethiopian Airlines' aircraft of the same model killing all 157 people on board.

Following the DGCA order, SpiceJet on Wednesday said it has cancelled multiple flights.

"SpiceJet has presently announced cancellation of 14 flights for today (Wednesday) and will be operating additional flights from tomorrow. Of the 76 planes in our fleet, 64 aircraft are in operation and we are confident of minimizing the inconvenience," an airline statement said.

The DGCA has said that the Boeing 737 MAX planes will be grounded till appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations.

It came just months after an Indonesian Boeing 737 MAX aircraft met the same fate.

India is the latest country to ground this aircraft, joining the European Union, Australia, Italy, China, and Singapore, which restrained their airlines from operating the Boeing 737 MAX planes.

Following the global grounding of flights, Boeing shares also logged steep fall on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.