Legacy issues to be addressed in 2-3 quarters: SpiceJet chief

New Delhi: Budget carrier SpiceJet expects to address all its legacy issues, including those related to aircraft costs, in the next 2-3 quarters after tackling the low-hanging ones, its chief Ajay Singh has said.

SpiceJet, which has remained profitable for four straight quarters, also plans to order over 100 aircraft in the current financial year and ramp up its headcount in tune with its expansion plans.

"We have addressed the low-hanging issues. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done but now there is a lot of confidence among partners, vendors...," Singh told PTI.

"We will take another two to three quarters (before addressing all these issues)," he said in response to queries on dealing with legacy issues at the airline.
31/01/16 PTI/Business Standard

Read More

Spicejet increases its ticket cancellation charges

New Delhi: Budget carrier SpiceJet has revised upward its ticket cancellation charges by almost Rs 100 and will be applicable from next month.

The Gurgaon-based airline at present charges Rs 1,800 as cancellation fee for a domestic ticket and Rs 2,250 for an international booking.

The revised cancellation charges would be Rs 1,899 and Rs 2,349, respectively, from February 1, a SpiceJet official said.
30/01/2016 Dailyexcelsior

Read More

SpiceJet cuts debt by Rs 1,200 crore in one year, says Ajay Singh

New Delhi:  On the path to revival, SpiceJet has managed to slash its debt burden by nearly Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 800 crore in the last one year, according to the airline's chief Ajay Singh.
 Singh, who took over the reins of then crisis-hit SpiceJet early last year, said the turnaround process has taken off "very well".
 Riding on the back of four straight quarters of profit, SpiceJet is slowly moving from consolidation to expansion path and is preparing to trim costs in the long term.
 Riding on the back of four straight quarters of profit, SpiceJet is slowly moving from consolidation to expansion path and is preparing to trim costs in the long term.
 "The airline has cut down its debt burden by Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 800 crore in the last one year. The amount stood at around Rs 2,000 crore a year ago," he told PTI.
 The chairman and managing director of the carrier emphasised that there is enough positive cash flow now. "In terms of capital expenditure, the airline is comfortably placed," he added.
29/01/16 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

SpiceJet re-negotiating contracts to bring down costs: Ajay Singh

New Delhi: To reduce overall costs, SpiceJet is re-negotiating contracts related to aircraft lease, engineering, maintenance and other areas as some of the pacts are "out of sync" with realities, airline's chief Ajay Singh said.
After grappling with turbulent times a year ago, SpiceJet is on the path of turnaround and has remained profitable for four straight quarters.
Satisfied with the progress made by SpiceJet in improving its financial performance, Singh said the focus is now on reducing "big ticket costs".
"We are working on ways to reduce the cost of (aircraft) leasing, engineering and maintenance, among other areas. In this regard, we are re-negotiating contracts that were entered into the past as some contracts are out of sync with realities," Singh told PTI in an interview.

Singh, who is the Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet, came back at the helm amid concerns in late 2014 over the survival of the airline bogged down by debt woes.
27/01/16 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

SpiceJet: Increasing connectivity

Indian budget carrier SpiceJet began the New Year by announcing the launch of two new flights from Jaipur and Hyderabad to Dubai. The new flights will begin from February 16.

"Dubai is SpiceJet's key international market," says Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet. "We will continue to increase our presence here. Our customers can expect many more flights and many more exciting offers in the coming months."

With these new flights, SpiceJet will connect 10 Indian cities with Dubai every day. For the launch of the two new services, the airline is offering an introductory, all-inclusive, one-way fare of Rs6,499 (around Dh350) between Jaipur and Dubai. For the Hyderabad-Dubai sector, fares start at Rs7,999 (around Dh430) (all inclusive), while the Dubai-Hyderabad fares are available at Rs7,199 (around Dh390) (all inclusive) on a first-come-first served basis.

SpiceJet is the first private airline to launch a direct flight on the Jaipur-Dubai sector and will be the only airline to fly five times a week on this route. The scheduling of the Hyderabad-Dubai flights are so timed as to allow business travellers to India's IT hub make the most of every working day.
26/01/16 Khaleej Times

Read More

SpiceJet Republic Day offer: ‘India will fly sale’ cuts ticket prices to Rs 826

SpiceJet ‘Republic Day’ offer: SpiceJet has announced ‘India will Fly sale’ offering tickets prices as low as Rs 826 on domestic flights and ticket prices starting at Rs 3026 on international flights. The three-day sale will be applicable for booking between 25 January-27 January 2016 for travel between 01 February to 12 April, 2016. The offer is available on first-come-first-served basis, and seats per flight are limited.

Spicejet discount offer is applicable on select flights across SpiceJet’s network. Under this offer tickets are non-refundable and changeable. It must be noted that discount offers are not applicable on group bookings and infant booking. Blackout dates are applicable.
25/01/16 Financial Express

Read More

SpiceJet lands on highest ever profit, Rs 238 cr in airline kitty

Mumbai: Gurgaon based low cost airline SpiceJet, on Friday, reported net profit of Rs 238.40 crore in the October- December quarter of the current financial year on the back of a substantial reduction in fuel cost, rise in revenues due the increase in the number of passengers carried and better operating efficiency.
In the corresponding quarter of FY15 SpiceJet  had posted a net loss of Rs 275.02 crore.
According to the company, this was the highest ever net profit posted by the company since its inception in 2005.
The low cost airline was supposed to wind up its operation last winter after debts ballooned and daily operations came to a grinding halt which propelled founder Ajay Singh to take the reins of the company in his hand.
As an indication of the turnaround in the fortunes of the airline, revenue for the quarter increased by 11.35% y-o-y to Rs 1,459.95 crore compared to Rs 1311.71 crore in the corresponding quarter. The recovery in operations within a year was possible due to the substantial reduction in crude oil prices that pulled down the cost of jet fuel which constitutes 40%- 50% of the operating cost of an airline.
In the given quarter, SpiceJet fuel expense decreased by 34.81% y-o-y to Rs 366.63 crore compared to Rs 562.37crore during the same period last fiscal.
According to sector experts, all airline companies will continue to benefit from low fuel prices and with prices slipping below $30 per barrel, expenses are expected to come down further.
Another major expense for airlines is the aircraft lease rentals which increased by 5.86 % y-o-y to Rs 227.72 crore.
23/01/16 Financial Express

Read More

India's SpiceJet leasing another Bulgarian A320

SpiceJet has supplemented its winter fleet with an A320-200 LZ-BHH (cn 2863) wet-leased from BH Air - Balkan Holidays Air.

The Indian LCC also wet-leases an A319-100 from the Bulgarian operator - LZ-AOA (cn 3139).

Together the duo of jets are the only Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) machinery in service with SpiceJet whose core fleet consists of two B737-700s, nineteen B737-800s (three of which are wet-leased from Travel Service Airlines, four B737-900(ER)s, and thirteen Dash 8-400s.
23/01/16 ch-aviation

Read More

Woman gets ticket refund after four years

Ranchi: Pooja Biyani had filed a case with the Ranchi consumer court in 2012 against MakeMyTrip, after the travel portal cancelled her air ticket back home without intimation, leaving her stranded in Kathmandu. It took her four years to get the full reimbursement.
In 2014, the consumer court reimbursed the difference in fare as well as a 9% interest to her. The case went into appeal where the matter was finally settled in New Delhi. The final order in the case was received on January 12 this year.
"I travel frequently to Kathmandu as my parents reside there. The incident occured in December, 2012. I was supposed to fly to Delhi from Kathmandu on a Spicejet flight. After I arrived at the airport with my daughter, I was intimidated by the airline staff that my flight had been cancelled. I had received no prior intimation about the cancellation and since I didn't want to miss the connecting flight to Ranchi, I was compelled to opt for an Air India flight which cost me around Rs 18,900, more than double the price I had paid to MakeMyTrip for the earlier flight," said Biyani.
20/01/16 Times of India

Read More

SpiceJet raises market share to 13.1%

Mumbai: In the beginning of calendar year 2015, low-cost airline SpiceJet was close to closure as debts ballooned and market share plummeted to almost 9% due to curtailing of its fleet. Eleven months later, the carrier has managed to increase its market share to 13.1% in November on the back of a change in ownership and management, renewed focus on operational efficiency, better aircraft utilisation and prudent financial management.
The enhanced market share of SpiceJet is largely due to the large and frequent discount sales it comes up with. Not surprisingly, most of its peers have either lost market share or could not not grow it. According to DGCA data, the market share of Indigo — the largest domestic airline by market share — stayed flat at 36%.
Jet Airways’ market share also remained flat at 19.3% while that of Air India decreased by 250 basis points to 16.2% in the January to November period. The market share of another no frills airline, GoAir, also stood flat at 8.6%.
SpiceJet also recorded highest passenger load factor — above 90% — for the last seven months to November.
“As prices of jet fuel has come down, SpiceJet and other airlines have benefited immensely from this. Due to reduction in expenses and increased efficiency in operations, the new management has managed to bring back the stability in operations,” said an expert from one of the global consultancy firms.
During January to November, passengers carried by SpiceJet increased to 9.77 lakh from 5.87 lakh. In a bid to recover lost ground, SpiceJet has added six new aircraft in the existing fleet, which will help it operate close to 300 daily flights during the winter schedule. “SpiceJet is set to increase its capacity by 50% in the next two years.
19/01/16 Malyaban Ghosh/Financial Express

Read More

Indigo, SpiceJet rule the skies in Indian aviation: DGCA

Indian Airlines registered another good month in 2015 by carrying 19.71% more passengers during the month of December, according to DGCA data.
Report says that IndiGo remained the largest carrier in the domestic market with 35.9% of the total passengers flying during the month of December.
SpiceJet continued number one position in terms of load factors by flying its planes with 92.1 per cent seats full. SpiceJet was followed by the market leader IndiGo that filled 88.5 per cent of its seats per flight during the month, DGCA data said.
18/01/16 IndiaInfoline

Read More

India's SpiceJet launches 2 new routes to Dubai

Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has launched two new routes to Dubai, bringing the number of Indian cities it connects with the emirate on a daily basis to ten.
The latest cities to be connected to Dubai are Jaipur and Hyderabad, which will be operated by a Boeing 737 800 aircraft.
Shilpa Bhatia, senior VP commercial, SpiceJet, said: “We see huge potential, especially from non-metro cities such as Jaipur, waiting to be unlocked and over the years we have also witnessed a resurgence in demand on the Hyderabad-Dubai route from business and leisure travellers alike. Dubai is a key market in increasing our footprint across the Middle East and with these flight launches we aim to provide our customers with better and more convenient travel options.”
The routes demonstrate the strong links between the two markets and in November SpiceJet’s chairman Ajay Singh revealed a number of Gulf carriers have expressed an interest in acquiring a stake in the Indian budget airline.
“Some of the Gulf airlines have expressed an interest in SpiceJet as we have come back into the market, but this is not the right time to be diluting the equity,” Singh was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
“There is some dialogue which is ongoing and we continue to explore other types of relationships we could have.”
18/01/16 Arabian Business.com

Read More

SpiceJet chief looks to build on Indian low-cost carrier’s turnaround

SpiceJet’s co-founder Ajay Singh seemed surprised that someone would even ask what was going through his mind when, in December 2014, the Indian low-cost carrier’s aircraft were grounded.

Fuel suppliers had refused to refill its planes for fear that they wouldn’t be paid. Thousands of its customers’ holiday plans had been thrown into disarray and the carrier’s 5,000 workers were sent home, unsure of whether they would be paid the salaries they were owed. It was a bleak Christmas for all concerned and there were fears its planes would not take off again.

But at that stage, Mr Singh had not been involved with the management of the company for more than four years. He and his fellow investors had sold out to the media magnate Kalanithi Maran and his KAL Airways company, which had, observers said, made a mess of things. Strictly speaking, it was no longer his concern. But he did not see it that way.

“How would you expect me to feel? I felt terrible,” Mr Singh told The National during a recent interview in Dubai. “Some of the mistakes that were being made at the time – it was obvious that they were mistakes. I couldn’t do anything about it.”

A month later, by mid-January last year, Mr Singh found himself back at the helm of the business after KAL Airways transferred its stake in the company back to Mr Singh and a group of investors that pledged to inject 15 billion rupees (Dh812 million) into the company.
17/01/16 Michael Fahy/The National

Read More

Jet Airways flight forced to abort take-off as dog enters Mumbai airport runway

Mumbai: One domestic flight had to abort take-off while four others were made to hover in the skies for more than 15 minutes after a dog strayed into the runway at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai on Sunday.
The flight which aborted take-off was of Jet Airways. Of the four other flights affected, two were of IndiGo and one each of GoAir and SpiceJet.
“Jet Airways flight which was ready to fly had to abort its take-off, while four other flights at Mumbai airport had to be suspended for a brief period today after a dog strayed into the runway. Due to this, four flights were asked to do a go-around,” the sources said.
The flights had to wait in the skies for almost 15-20 minutes, they said, adding that operations were resumed after the authorities cleared the runway of the dog.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma had in December last year said that the Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) had taken several steps to ensure safety of aircraft from birds and wildlife.
18/01/16 PTI/Indian Express

Read More

SpiceJet, Air India offers: Special fares priced at a starting Rs 6,499

Mumbai: In order to draw more passengers on the international routes, national carrier Air India and budget carrier SpiceJet on Thursday announced special fares and start of operations in some of the most popular and profitable international routes.
Air India in collaboration with Tourism Australia is offering special fares starting R62,000 till February 14. Offer will be available for flights to Australia in between February 17 to September 30.
“The daily, non-stop service operated by a Dreamliner Boeing 787 between New Delhi and the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne, provides a boost to the aviation capacity between India and Australia by up to 93,400 seats (on an annualised basis). For the year 2015, Air India recorded a 12% market share for air traffic from India into Australia”, said Air India in a press note.
To enhance connectivity between India and Dubai, low cost carrier SpiceJet, announced the launch of two new flights from Jaipur and Hyderabad. With the introduction of the two new flights, SpiceJet will operate flights between Dubai and 10 Indian cities.
15/01/16 Financial Express

Read More

Spicejet leaves behind some Jammu-bound passengers

It was an ordeal for at least six SpiceJet passengers on January 9, Saturday, who were not allowed to board the SpiceJet (Srinagar-Jammu) flight 161 even after they had received boarding pass.

Speaking to Greater Kashmir, the aggrieved alleged that the airline ground staff did not allow them to board the aircraft even after tagging their hand baggage.

Among the worst sufferers was a central government employee AftabBanday, who had reached the airport “one hour ahead of the reporting time, but still could not board the plane even as he had undergone security checks and identified his luggage.”

“I was waiting for the boarding announcement but no such announcement of either arrival or departure of the flight was made,” Aftab said.

“When I finally approached the boarding gate, I was told that the flight had already departed,” he said.

Even though Aftab was given an “alternate ticket for next day by the airline, I had to pay Rs 3000 over and above the amount I had already spent on purchase of my ticket earlier,” he said.
15/01/16 Greater Kashmir

Read More

SpiceJet, Jet Airways offer discounted fares on new international flights

Mumbai: Low fare carrier SpiceJet, Thursday announced the launch of two new flights from Jaipur and Hyderabad to Dubai.
The airline is offering an introductory one way offer of Rs 6,499 between Jaipur and Dubai. The Hyderabad-Dubai fares start at Rs 7,999 while the Dubai-Hyderabad fares are available at Rs. 7199 on a first-come-first-served basis. Bookings are now open. Flights commence on 16th February, 2016.
The inaugural special fares, offering savings of up to 16%, are available for sale with immediate effect until January 15, 2016, with travel effective March 27, 2016 onwards. The offer is valid for travel in Premiere (Business) and Economy class travel. All fares include taxes.
Jet will operate two daily non-stop flights to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, one each from Mumbai and New Delhi. The airline will also operate a daily flight from Toronto to Amsterdam. Passengers availing the inaugural offer from Mumbai to Amsterdam can book a return journey in economy with an all-inclusive fare of Rs 33,734, whereas business class passengers have to pay an all-inclusive return fare of Rs 1,47,071.
14/01/16 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

Read More

SpiceJet to launch two new flights connecting Dubai with Jaipur, Hyderabad

New Delhi: Budget passenger carrier SpiceJet on Thursday announced the launch of two new flights connecting Jaipur and Hyderabad to Dubai from February 16.
"We see a huge potential, especially from non-metro cities such as Jaipur, waiting to be unlocked and over the years we have also witnessed a resurgence in demand on the Hyderabad-Dubai route from business and leisure travellers alike," said Shilpa Bhatia, senior vice president - commercial with SpiceJet.
"Dubai is a key market in increasing our footprint across the Middle East and with these flight launches, we aim to provide our customers with better and more convenient travel options," Bhatia was quoted in a statement.
According to the airline, with the introduction of these new flights, it now connects ten Indian cities with Dubai every day.
Besides, the airline announced introductory one-way fare of Rs.6,499 (all-inclusive) between Jaipur and Dubai.
14/01/16 IANS/Business Today

Read More

SpiceJet told to give Rs 10,000 compensation for deficient service

Panchkula: Panchkula District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed airliner SpiceJet Limited to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation to a resident of Sector 6 for not giving a refund on his cancelled ticket.
In the complaint, Sudhir Mittal claimed that on May 23, 2015, he booked a return ticket from Chandigarh to Srinagar through the travel web-portal Make My Trip for Rs 33,790. The journey was booked for June 4, 2015, in the name of Mittal's son and four of his friends. The return journey had been wrongly booked for July 14, 2015.
Mittal's son and his friends boarded the Chandigarh to Srinagar flight on the scheduled date. On reaching Srinagar, they came to know that the return ticket had been book for July 14 instead of June 14. At that time, they returned to Chandigarh by road.
Mittal requested Make My Trip for partial cancellation, and he was informed that his request would be processed within 48 hours, but nothing was done by June 17, 2015.
14/01/16 Times of India

Read More

GoAir, IndiGo, Vistara and SpiceJet adding flights across the country, giving passengers more options to travel

New Delhi/Mumbai: India's carriers are adding flights across the country giving passengers more options to travel as demand remains robust.
GoAir, IndiGo and SpiceJet are adding flights, Vistara is growing its fleet while Jet Airways is planning to announce new services shortly. GoAir today said that it is launching 12 additional daily frequencies and 4 new routes.
With the launch of four new routes, GoAir becomes the first airline to directly connect Mumbai - Leh and Bengaluru - Port Blair 'in the wake of growing demand on these sectors'. "GoAir also announced daily direct connectivity between Bengaluru, Patna and Ranchi," the airline said in a release.
Additional frequencies with improved timings have also been introduced connecting 10 Indian cities. "Ranchi, Lucknow and Patna will see increased daily frequencies from Delhi. Srinagar will be additionally connected with Mumbai. Leh will also see an additional frequency to Srinagar," the airline said.
Recently,IndiGo announced the launch of 24 new flights connecting key cities within the country.
Before that, SpiceJet said that it has increased capacity on the Delhi-Kabul route as well as on domestic routes such as Chennai- Kochi, Bengaluru-Vijaywada, Kochi-Chennai and Hyderabad-Vijaywada.
On Saturday, Vistara said it would be adding 4 Airbus A320 planes this year. The airline currently operates a fleet of 9 Airbus 320 aircraft and operates 307 weekly flights to 12 destinations across the country.
11/01/16 Mihir Mishra & Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

Read More