HDFC Trustee Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mumbai-based financial services company Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited, has bought 34,000,000 shares in SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International) from the open market, picking up a 5.45% stake in the LCC.

The move “shows that companies such as HDFC, which owns the country's largest mutual fund, have confidence in the airline to emerge from the current crisis,” a source told India's Live Mint.

The Indian government has banned passenger flights on all domestic and international routes, effective from March 25 to April 14, in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

As a result, India’s aviation industry is expected to post losses of USD3 billion to USD3.6 billion in the April to June quarter, according to local media, with airlines incurring losses of USD1.75 billion and airports and concessionaires sustaining losses of USD1.50 billion to USD1.75 billion.

On March 31, SpiceJet announced that it had initiated a 10% to 30% pay cut for all of its employees across its top and mid-tier levels. The airline’s chairman and managing director, Ajay Singh, agreed to a 30% pay cut for the month of March.