Kalanithi Maran takes over as Chairman of SpiceJet
India’s most preferred airline, SpiceJet Limited, announces that Mr. Kalanithi Maran, Chairman and Promoter of Sun Network, has formally been inducted into the Board of SpiceJet Limited as the Director and Chairman with effect from 15 November 2010. Mr. Maran is the majority shareholder in the company, and currently holds 38.66 % stake through his aviation firm KAL Airways Pvt. Ltd.
Welcoming Mr. Kalanithi Maran into his new role, Mr. Bhulo Kansagra, Former Director – SpiceJet Limited said, “Spicejet has entered a very new and exciting phase of expansion and during this exciting growth phase, Mr. Maran’s business acumen and vision will not only strengthen SpiceJet but will also redefine the way Low Cost Carriers are viewed in India. We wish him success.”
Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Kalanithi Maran said. “SpiceJet has been outperforming the industry on most business parameters and is now perfectly poised for a sharp take-off. I am very optimistic about the growth in the aviation business which is the basis for the order of 30 new Boeing 737-800NG aircraft that SpiceJet recently placed with deliveries commencing in 2014. This is in addition to our plans to double our current fleet size to 50 aircraft by 2013. I am extremely excited to lead the airline on this growth path.”
“It is our vision that domestic air-connectivity is incomplete without looking at the Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. SpiceJet’s recent announcement of acquiring 30 Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft will help us in realizing this vision”, he continued
“The Indian aviation air-space is one of the fastest growing markets in the world driven by value-for-money fares and connectivity provided by Low Cost Carriers like SpiceJet. It is an extremely cost-conscious market and I believe that the SpiceJet business model is ideally suited to meet the current and emerging consumer demand for affordable and efficient air travel”, he added.
About SpiceJet Ltd :
SpiceJet (www.spicejet.com) is India's most preferred airline, with 13% market share, delivering the lowest air fares with the highest consumer value. We operate 153 flights daily to 20 Indian cities viz. Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bagdogra, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Guwahati, Goa, Hyderabad, Jammu, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Madurai, Mumbai, Pune, Srinagar, Varanasi and Visakhapatnam. On the international front, SpiceJet operates flights to Kathmandu and Colombo. Our on-time performance is amongst the best in India and coupled with a Technical Dispatch Reliability of 99.6%, making us an airline with least cancellations. As of 30th Nov’2010, SpiceJet will have a new generation fleet of 25 Boeing 737-800 / 737-900ER aircrafts backed by cutting edge technology and infrastructure to ensure the highest standards in safety and operating efficiency.
SpiceJet is the winner of:
- Smart Travel Asia’s Top 5 Best Budget Airlines in Asia (Aug 2010) and in Top 10 list for 2 consecutive years (Aug 2008 & Sept 2009, Hong Kong)
- Outlook Traveler’s Best Low Cost Airline (Feb 2008 & Feb 2010)
- Award for Best Website at ‘World Low Cost Airlines Asia Pacific Conference’ (January 2010, Singapore)
- India’s best low-fare airline in a survey conducted by MaRs on behalf of Hindustan Times (December 2009)
- Employer Branding Institutes’ Best Employer Brand Award for our employee best practices (December 2009)
- World Travel Market Award for multi-channel approach in distribution (November 2009, London)
- National Award (ICWAI) for excellence in Cost Management (March 2009)
- CIO 100 Award for IT efforts for customer satisfaction and business growth (2007, 2008 & 2009)
- Frost & Sullivan Indian Commercial Aviation Emerging Company of the Year Award (Nov 2008, London).