SpiceJet opens advance bookings up to March 2016

Budget-carrier SpiceJet today said it has opened advanced bookings up to March next year, following the nod from aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

The customers can now start planning their trips early for the winters to get the best deals, the airline said in a statement.

Winter schedules for airlines in India this year would commence from October and last up to March 24, 2016.

"We are pleased to announce opening of bookings beyond Oct 24 this year.Our customers can now plan their travel up to March 26 next year, and as always, those who plan and book early get the best fares," SpiceJet chief operating officer Sanjiv Kapoor said in the release.

SpiceJet also plans to increase its daily flights to 251 in the winter schedule as against 238 flights being operated in the on-going summer schedule, which would go up to October 25.

In line with the airline's route optimisation strategy, the focus of the airline during the winters would be to increase frequencies and connections amongst its existing stations rather than add new ones, the release said.

SpiceJet has retained the last minute ticket cancellations charges at a reasonable Rs 1,500 and joined the carriers who have affected a massive 50 per cent hike in such charges, the airline said.

"We understand that plans can sometimes change, and we want our customers to be able to make amendments without spending much," SpiceJet senior vice president and head of sales Shilpa Bhatia said.

At present, the Girgaon-based no-frills airline operates more than 238 daily flights to 41 destinations, including 34 domestic and seven international ones.

With the recent induction of three wet-leased Boeing 787s in the operations, SpiceJet now has a fleet of 35 aircraft, with 20 of them Boeing 737s and remaining 15 Bombardier Q400s.