SpiceJet to take delivery of 33rd plane

Chennai-based airlines SpiceJet will take delivery of its 33rd aircraft, a Boeing 737, in the next few days, a company official said today.

The official also said the no-frills carrier has decided to launch services on two new routes -- Delhi-Varanasi and Jaipur-Jammu -- from March 1 as part of its fast expansion into smaller towns.

The aircraft induction is part of expansion plan of the media mughal Kalanithi Maran-promoted airline, the official added.

The new aircraft is Boeing 737-800 which has a seating capacity of 189. The fleet expansion plan is along with Bombardier Q400. The airline has been fast expanding with a new fleet of the Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft from Bombardier, which can seat 78.

SpiceJet had placed an order for 30 such aircraft.

The official said bookings for the Jaipur-Jammu and Delhi-Varanasi routes have already started.

SpiceJet is the only airline that will be connecting Jaipur and Jammu and is offering a ticket as low as Rs 1,999, the official claimed.

SpiceJet has 16.5 per cent market share as of January, and operates 270 flights a day connecting 32 domestic cities and two global destinations -- Kathmandu and Colombo.

For the December quarter, the carrier reported a loss of Rs 39.3 crore on the back of a 90 percent spike in fuel costs, but ruled out fare hike. Against this the airline had a profit of Rs 94.44 crore, a year ago.

"We are not looking at increasing our fares now, as the market dynamics does not allow that. We are confident of improving the earnings going forward, and we hope to improve further from the 41 per cent rise in revenues next quarter," Chief Executive Neil Mills had said on the result day.

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