SpiceJet rolls out discount offer again; COO Sanjiv Kapoor says future now secure

New Delhi: Emphasising that its future now looks secure with a restructuring process underway, SpiceJet’s top executive Sanjiv Kapoor said the difficult period created by some “legacy issues” are over for the carrier. Amid the no-frills carrier facing turbulent times, its original co-founder Ajay Singh has agreed to acquire 58.46 percent stake from the Marans as part of a revival plan that would also see recapitalisation of SpiceJet. “The good news is that the company is, at the time of this writing, in the process of changing hands with the return to the airline of co-founder Ajay Singh as promoter, and along with that comes re-capitalisation of the airline. “The future now looks secure,” SpiceJet Chief Operating Officer Sanjiv Kapoor said. [caption id=“attachment_2080429” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Addressing the SpiceJet customers through his column in the latest edition of its monthly in-flight magazine, Kapoor said the carrier has been the driving force behind demand stimulation and strong market growth, benefitting the entire travel ecosystem. “We plan to grow back as soon as possible to the size and scale we had achieved in the middle of 2014, when we had grown to become the second airline for domestic air travel in terms of passengers flown, with 21 per cent market share, before legacy issues caught up with us and led to a difficult period for the company,” he said. However, he did not elaborate on the legacy issues. At present, SpiceJet has a market share of little over 10 percent. In the wake of financial crunch, the airline had curtailed its operations to around 230 daily flights from a peak of around 345 flights. Noting that SpiceJet has been going through a very challenging time over the last two months, Kapoor appreciated the efforts of the Civil Aviation Ministry in helping it get “some breathing room” from creditors as part of restructuring. According to him, it was not a bailout and there was no funding of any kind involved from the government or taxpayer funds. “It was simply a few weeks of credit based on standard commercial terms,” he added. As part of the revival plan, Kalanithi Maran, his wife Kavery Kalanithi and Managing Director S Natrajhen have resigned from the SpiceJet board to make way for new directors in wake of ownership change. Among others, Marans would also be infusing funds into the carrier. Earlier yesterday, the company rolled out a special Valantine’s Day offer titled “We Love You With All Our Heart” with tickets starting at Rs 1,599. The offer valid for booking during 4-6 February was applicable for one way travel during February 14-April 15. “We are thrilled to experience great results for our first sale offer of 2015 which clearly shows the confidence bestowed on SpiceJet. To celebrate this confidence we decided to launch a Valentine’s day sale with all our heart,” chief Commercial officer Kaneswaran Avili was quoted as saying in the release. The offer comes days after a similar discount offer from the airline, in which the tickets were offered for Rs 1,499. The aviation regulator, DGCA had lifted a ban on advance booking by the company only recently, after Ajay Singh agreed to buy Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways’ majority stake in the struggling carrier. With inputs from PTI