SpiceJet clears all dues with Airports Authority of India, shares rise

Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet Ltd (SPJT.NS) said on Tuesday it had cleared all its outstanding principal dues with the state-run airport operator Airports Authority of India (AAI), sending its shares up nearly 5%. The airline will revert to advance payment mechanism for its daily operations, and AAI will release a 500 million rupees ($6.33m) bank guarantee, the company added. The airline has been under the spotlight lately after a slew of incidents of technical snags on its flights and one of its Dubai-based lessors asked the regulator to deregister three of SpiceJet's planes. Adding to its woes, the aviation regulator last week ordered the airline to slash its approved fleet to 50% this summer for eight weeks citing safety snags. The airline said on Monday its flight operations remained normal. Shares rose as much as 4.5% to 42 rupees in early trade.<br/>