SpiceJet flies high, soars 8% on announcing new international flights

The company said will connect Mumbai to a host of international destinations with direct non-stop flights to Hong Kong, Jeddah, Dubai, Colombo, Dhaka, Riyadh, Bangkok, and Kathmandu.

Shares of SpiceJet advanced as much as 7.82 per cent in the morning trade on Monday after the air carrier announced it will launch a slew of new international flights from Mumbai. 

The company, in its press release said, it will connect Mumbai to a host of international destinations with direct non-stop flights to Hong Kong, Jeddah, Dubai, Colombo, Dhaka, Riyadh, Bangkok and Kathmandu. The new international flights will commence from May-end.

The airline will be deploying its Boeing 737 NG aircraft on the new routes. 

Earlier, news reports said SpiceJet and IndiGo will add close to 50 aircraft over the next few months to fill up the capacity shortage caused by the crisis in Jet Airways as well as the grounding of Boeing 737 Max planes.

SpiceJet has announced it will induct 16 Boeing 737s on lease over the next few days. These were flown by Jet Airways earlier.

The last two months have seen a sharp reduction in capacity in the domestic market. Jet Airways is operating just seven planes now, down from 103 last October. GoAir is operating 10 fewer planes than last month. SpiceJet’s capacity, too, has reduced following the grounding of its 12 Boeing 737 Max aircraft on safety concerns.

SpiceJet said new inductions will bring down flight cancellations to zero and help in capacity expansion. CLICK TO READ FULL REPORT

At 10:45 am, the stock was trading 6.55 per cent higher at Rs 117 apiece on the BSE. In comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was ruling at 38,889.40 levels, up 122 points or 0.32 per cent.