Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to join fleet by 2018: SpiceJet

Budget passenger carrier SpiceJet on Tuesday said that new aircraft under "a large order" placed with Boeing will start to join its fleet by mid-2018.

"We have placed a large order for the Boeing 737 MAX, in fact, the biggest ever placed by an Indian airline with Boeing. The new planes start to join the fleet in the middle of 2018 and with that our operating cost will further go down," said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet.

"It seems to us that things this year, so far, appear to be better than they were last year. We do hope and expect that the bottom line is going to be better than what it was last year."

In all Spicejet has placed an order for up to 205 planes with Boeing worth $22 billion.

According to Singh, the "large order" for Boeing aircraft will create 132,000 high-skilled, high-paid jobs in the US.

Singh's comments come a day after President Donald Trump during his address at the White House to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned about the aircraft order.

--IANS

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