The Hindu : Business : SpiceJet gets its own aircraft

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Friday, Feb 17, 2006

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Business

SpiceJet gets its own aircraft

Special Correspondent

Flags off maiden flight to Goa; inducts sixth Boeing into fleet

PROUD OWNER: Siddhant Sharma (left), Chairman, SpiceJet, and Ajay Singh, Director, addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday. — Photo: V. V. Krishnan

NEW DELHI: SpiceJet, India's no-frills, low-cost private domestic carrier, on Thursday inducted the first of the 20 new generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft for which it placed orders with the U.S. aircraft manufacturer last year when the airline began its operations.

"With the induction of sixth Boeing 737-800 aircraft into our fleet, we have now increased the capacity to over 7,000 seats per day. It will also strengthen our existing network spanning 11 destinations,'' Ajay Singh, Director, SpiceJet, told reporters.

Network expansion

Mr. Singh said the airline would expand its route network and was also interested in flying abroad as and when the government permitted it to do so. Claiming that the airline had recorded a high load factor, averaging 88 per cent, SpiceJet Chairman, Siddhant Sharma, said it had cornered six per cent of the market share and had "emerged as India's preferred low-cost carrier."

Asked whether the airline was keen to operate abroad, Mr. Singh said the carrier was in the process of expanding the domestic network and, in future, could consider flying to South Asian countries. Hoping to register net profit in the last quarter of this fiscal, he said the airline was already making "an operating profit", barely nine months after launching operations.

The airline, which has placed orders for 20 Boeing 737-800s, has raised funds for pre-delivery payment of these planes by issuing foreign currency convertible bonds last year. Mr. Singh said as the deliveries of these aircraft continued, the company would examine a variety of options, including considering financing through the Exim Bank, lease back of aircraft and other finance options. ``Our attempt will be to keep as many aircraft on our books as possible,'' he added. The airline would get three more new planes this year and all new deliveries would be completed by 2008-end. Mr. Singh predicted a growth of nearly 30 per cent in the civil aviation sector as flying became more affordable.

The new 737-800, with blended winglets, was flagged off on its maiden Delhi-Goa-Delhi flight by Airport Director, B. K. Arora. He said the benefits from blended winglet include higher payload capabilities, reduced noise, a distinct tech-savvy image and increased fuel efficiency.

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