SpiceJet to order smaller aircraft to boost regional connectivity

New Delhi: SpiceJet is looking to place a fresh order for “substantial” number of aircraft, including smaller aircraft, within this fiscal. The airline has already expanded its fleet in October by leasing six aircraft which raises its capacity in the winter schedule by 16 percent. And deliveries of the 55 Boeing 737 Max aircraft which were ordered earlier are slated to start only by end of next year.[caption id=“attachment_2360674” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Expanding fleet. AFP[/caption] Speaking to reporters, SpiceJet’s chairman Ajay Singh said, “The new government policy provides significant incentives for regional air travel. We expect that will happen and there will be big growth. We think that the growth is coming for tier II and tier III towns. We want to expand on our base of being the largest operator of regional jets in India.” Not just single aisle planes, SpiceJet could also expand its fleet of 15 Q400 Bombardier aircraft by ordering more Bombardiers or going in for another small aircraft type. Singh said eventually, the 737 deliveries will be subsumed into the fresh order. While declining to get into the numbers of aircraft that the airline planned to order, he did say that the small aircraft that SpiceJet is looking to acquire will seat a maximum of 80 passengers. “We are negotiating with the manufacturers and we hope that the order can be placed in this financial year. It will be for a significant number of aircraft although we still have to decide the numbers. It will also depend on the deal we get from the manufacturers,” he said. Earlier this week, SpiceJet announced the launch of red-eye flights within the domestic network on the Delhi – Bangalore route along with a new flight on Delhi – Nanded route, both commencing its operations on 2 November. On the Delhi – Bangalore sector, the flight SG 149 will take off at 1 am from Delhi and land at 3.40 am. The airline will be operating four flights in a week with fares starting Rs 3,899. Red-eye is a popular concept since these flights tend to be more economical than the day-time flights. SpiceJet will add close to half a dozen red-eye flights in the winter schedule. Singh said the festival season is witnessing a large passenger rush and SpiceJet continues to operate with 92-94 percent aircraft loads. The airline has already said it will increase daily flights to 291 this winter from 250 now. It will add Ahmedabad-Goa, Mumbai-Varanasi and Varanasi-Hyderabad flights. It will increase frequencies on Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Chennai, Goa – Mumbai, Delhi – Kolkata, Kolkata – Agartala, Mumbai – Kochi, Hyderabad – Mumbai, and Chennai – Madurai sectors.