SpiceJet applies afresh for Colombo access

Though the number of people flying to Colombo from various Indian cities has grown considerably, the civil aviation ministry has turned down SpiceJet’s proposal to operate flights to the Sri Lankan capital. The ministry reasons that the traffic in this sector is not enough to sustain a third airline, after Air India and Jet Airways.

The low-cost carrier has, however, applied afresh for permission to operate in this growing route.

“The civil aviation ministry has turned down our proposal to fly to Colombo on the grounds that the traffic in this sector is not enough to sustain any third airline in this sector,” a SpiceJet executive said on condition of anonymity.

“This sector has recently witnessed over 47 per cent growth in passenger traffic. There cannot be any reason why our launch would not be a success. We have again applied for the permission,” added the executive.

An industry source also confirmed that this sector has picked up hugely and the two carriers — state-run Air India and private carrier Jet Airways — are operating in this sector with almost full load.

SpiceJet was recently allowed to operate flights to the capital cities of Nepal, Bangladesh and the Maldives.

The airline plans to start with one daily flight to Dhaka from August and follow it up with another daily flight to Kathmandu from September.

However, it has not fixed any timeline for starting services to the Maldives. The airline will start its services only when it receives the delivery of new planes.

The low-cost carrier, which will take the delivery of three aircraft this financial year, is due to receive two airplanes by the end of this calendar year and the third in February 2011.

The airline became eligible to fly internationally from May 23 after it completed a mandatory five years of flying in the domestic network and a fleet of 20 aircraft.

The airline had earlier announced that its fares in the international sector would be around 15 per cent less than its competitors.

Among others, Paramount Airways aims to fly abroad from August when it completes five years of mandatory domestic operation, but it has only five aircraft, way below the minimum requirement of 20.

IndiGo, India’s largest low-cost carrier in terms of market share, will complete five years of flying in India in August next year. It currently has a fleet of 26 aircraft, and has also applied to the ministry for permission to start international operations.