SpiceJet reports 'good' beginning in its SME scheme, owes it to South India

New Delhi: Aiming to tap the growing SME segment in the country, no frills carrier SpiceJet today reported “good” beginning in its much-talked about programme of attracting such travellers wherein upto 10 percent discount is offered on each trip. The airline today said 5,000 customers, mainly from the southern region, have registered under the ‘SME traveller’ platform since September last year when it was launched.[caption id=“attachment_2071519” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Seeing revival. AFP[/caption] There are about 100 million MSMEs in the country and the airline intends to tap as many as possible. Over 2,700 business trips have been undertaken by the MSMEs using this platform so far, SpiceJet said in a release. “It is overwhelming to see SME traveller doing well in the market. Our customers are finding this tool quite convenient and hence acting as a catalyst to this demand. These numbers speak of a good start and we aim to take this to the next level,” SpiceJet chief commercial officer Kaneswaran Avili. This sector has recorded a constant year on year growth of over 10 percent thereby making this sector the backbone of country’s economy, he said. “While south has contributed the most, we see other regions too actively registering for this tool. We see a huge demand coming from east in the near future,” he added. This scheme enables individual business travellers of the registered SMEs to manage their travel needs on their own, while providing complete visibility and transparency to the SME business and travel managers. PTI