Airlines file case against Spring Travels for Rs 120-cr default

Other airlines too are contemplating similar actions after taking legal advice

International airlines have filed cheating complaints with the Delhi police against Spring Travels after the firm failed to pay Rs 120 crore for ticket sales in March. The International Air Transport Association (Iata), which manages the bill collection and settlement system between carriers and agents, has also terminated the membership of Spring Travels.

Recently, Lufthansa Airlines, Swiss and Singapore Airlines filed cheating cases against the agency with the Delhi police’s  economic offences wing. Mandeep Singh Anand, chairman of Spring Travels, denied all charges of cheating. “How can there be a case if there is no crime,” Anand said. He blamed Iata for failing to resolve the dispute.

“Lufthansa confirms it has filed a criminal case against Spring Travels with the Crime Branch and the economic offences wing of Delhi Police,” the airline said in statement. Singapore Airlines said it could not comment as the “case involves pending legal issues”. Among the airlines, Jet Airways, which did not respond to queries, was affected the most due to the default.

Iata said it could not give a guarantee on behalf of airlines and denied that it had scuttled resolution of the dispute. “There were only three airlines at the meeting on April 17. Iata was an observer at the meeting. The airlines agreed to process the refunds that would be submitted by Spring Travels, on condition that Spring Travels makes a partial payment of the amounts due. However, Spring Travel never made the partial payment,” Iata said in a statement.