Spicejet ltd.the Indian discount carrier part-owned by billionaire Kalanithi Maran, will spend $900 million on buying as many as 30 Bombardier Inc. aircraft as it works to more than double its fleet in about three years.
The Q400 turboprop planes are to be delivered from the second quarter of next year, and will help the airline add flights to smaller destinations, New Delhi-based SpiceJet said in a statement today. The carrier also reported a second-quarter profit compared with a year-earlier loss.
“We believe that the enormous potential in the Indian domestic market can be further tapped by enhancing regional connectivity,” Neil Mills, who took over as chief executive officer last month, told reporters in New Delhi today. The propeller-powered Q400 can carry 70 passengers 2,522 kilometers (1,567 miles), according to Montreal-based Bombardier’s website.
SpiceJet has reported four consecutive quarterly profits as faster economic expansion and rising disposable incomes prompt more people in India to make long-distance trips by air. The carrier ordered 30 Boeing Co. 737s in July after investment from Maran, the founder of Sun TV Network Ltd., helped boost expansion plans.
By: KabirT - 2nd November 2010 at 19:20
Thats what I have heard along with its corporate office being moved from Delhi to Madurai, South India.
By: keithnewsome - 2nd November 2010 at 19:17
Thats interesting KabirT, always good to hear of expansion, now I see why you said, in another thread, that SpiceJet may change to SunJet soon ?
Keith.
Sign In
November 2, 2010 at 4:22 pm