SpiceJet to buy 30 Boeing aircraft for $2.7 billion

Gurgaon-based low-cost carrier SpiceJet today said it will order 30 Boeing aircraft for $2.7 billion. The planes will be delivered between 2014 and 2018.

“We have a board approval for acquisition of 30 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft at a cost of $2.7 billion. The delivery will start from 2014,” said Spicejet director Ajay Singh.

At present, the airline operates with a fleet of 21 Boeing 737-800 and 737-900 aircraft and will add seven more in the current financial year.

“We will induct seven aircraft this year and plan to induct an equal number or slightly more by the end of the next financial year. We plan to have 50 aircraft by 2014,” said Singh. The carrier had earlier announced its plans to induct only four aircraft this financial year.

Spicejet also said that its international operations will start from September. “We have approvals for Male, Dhaka and Kathmandu and are hopeful of receiving permission to fly to Colombo soon,” said Singh.

The civil aviation ministry had earlier denied permission to the airline to fly to Colombo on the ground that the traffic in that sector is not enough to sustain further capacity addition.

June qtr profit doubles
Riding high on good passenger numbers, SpiceJet has almost doubled its profit in the first quarter of the current financial year to Rs 55.22 crore from Rs 26.34 crore during the same period last year.

The airline also registered a 35 per cent increase in revenue from operations to Rs 707.8 crore from Rs 524.69 crore during the same quarter last year.

SpiceJet registered a 29 per cent growth in passenger numbers in the quarter and its occupancy for the quarter also increased to 88 per cent from 76 per cent in the year-ago period.