Friday, December 13, 2019

SpiceJet grounds all 3 Boeing 737 cargo aircraft after defect discovered

Domestic airline SpiceJet on Friday said that it has grounded all three of its standard Boeing 737 freighter aircraft after the plane supplier discovered a potential defect. As of September 30, the airline had four freighter aircraft--three standard-body 737 and one 737-800 Boeing converted freighter.

These aircraft were converted to freighters by Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI). The potential defect was discovered during an internal examination of IAI's manufacturing facilities. SpiceJet informed the BSE that a defect has been found in the process used to manufacture 9G rigid barrier, which provides a lightweight solution for separating crew and cargo, installed on these aircraft.

"These aircraft will return to operations after regulatory clearance," it said. The airline was operating nine scheduled departures six days a week by the three freighter to Hong Kong from Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati and one domestic rotation connecting Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.

The aircraft were operated by SpiceXpress, the cargo division of SpiceJet. SpiceXpress fleet increased to four aircraft during the September quarter with the induction of a 737-800 Boeing converted freighter (BCF).

The BCF was taken on lease from NGF Alpha Limited, a division of Spectre Cargo Solutions, a Texas-based aircraft trading and leasing company. Built on the next-generation 737 passenger airplane, the 737-800 BCF offers operators lower cost per payload tonne than older standard-body freighters and can carry up to 52,800 pounds (23.9 metric tonnes) of payload.

With the four freighter aircraft, the airline operated scheduled services on Mumbai – Sharjah - Mumbai, Delhi – Hanoi - Delhi, Bengaluru–HongKong–Kolkata-Bengaluru, Delhi–Mumbai-Delhi, Chennai–Hyderabad–Delhi–Mumbai–Bengaluru-Chennai sectors.
13/12/19 CNBC TV18
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