Delays hit SpiceJet operations

Operations of beleaguered SpiceJet continued to be hit today with most of its flights from here and Mumbai getting delayed even as the airline claimed it was operating full curtailed schedule of 230 flights per day.
"SpiceJet operations continues to be delayed and most of the flights have either departed from or arrived late at the Delhi airport," a source said.
In all, the airline operated 40 flights including 21 departures from the Delhi airport till this evening, the source said, adding shortage of aircraft has led to the delay.
The airline's flight to Aurangabad scheduled for departure from Delhi airport at 1330 hours could take off only at 1534 hrs while its Goa flight from Mumbai scheduled for departure at 15:10 hours was also delayed.

SpiceJet, in a statement, claimed that its operations, which were disrupted due to the non-payment of dues to the oil companies early this week, have returned to normal and it will operate all 232 flights according to the schedule.
The airline also said that it has been operating additional services to tourist hubs such as Port Blair and Goa since Wednesday evening to accommodate passengers who were left stranded due to the the grounding of its operations for nearly 10 hours on Wednesday.

"SpiceJet is pleased to announce that it is continuing to operate its full schedule of flights. We have also operated extra flights since Wednesday evening to accommodate backlogged passengers in locations such as Port Blair and Goa," the statement said.

"We apologise once again for the inconvenience caused to customers from our flight disruptions earlier this week. We will do our best to make it up to you," it said.
Large number of travellers went on a spree cancelling SpiceJet tickets, with many of them shifting to other airlines, leading to massive jump in air fares.
"Air fares which had gone to astronomical levels are once again coming back to more normal levels after normalcy in our operations," SpiceJet claimed.