Indian Aviation News
India’s SpiceJet to Start Turboprop Regional Links in July
by Bipin Shah Self Employed
Bipin Shah 
Self Employed
SpiceJet Ltd., India’s second- biggest discount airline, will start flying turboprop planes in July to the country’s smaller cities and towns.
The carrier’s purchase of the 15 Bombardier Inc. (BBD/B) Q400 planes will be funded by a loan from state-run Export Development Canada, Chief Commercial Officer Samyukth Sridharan said in Hyderabad today. He declined to provide details, including the amount and tenure of the borrowing.
New Delhi-based SpiceJet will get access to more cities in India with turboprop planes because there are several airports with runways too short for aircraft such as Boeing Co.’s 737s to land, Sridharan said. Larger rival IndiGo has announced plans to buy 180 Airbus SAS A320 jet planes and begin service to the Middle East and Southeast Asia starting in August.
“The enormous potential in the Indian domestic market can be further tapped by enhancing regional connectivity,” Neil Raymond Mills, chief executive officer at SpiceJet, said at a news conference in Hyderabad today. “We see a very robust and latent demand in these under-serviced sectors.”
Hyderabad Hub
SpiceJet, backed by billionaire Kalanithi Maran, will add the 15 Q400s to its fleet by July 2012, Mills told Bloomberg-UTV in an interview. The planes will cost $450 million at list price, he said.
The airline last year ordered the turboprops and took options for another 15. It also signed up for 30 Boeing 737s. The southern Indian city of Hyderabad will be the first regional hub for the Q400s, Mills said.
Shares of SpiceJet fell 3.8 percent to 43.25 rupees at the 3:30 p.m. close in Mumbai. They have declined 47 percent this year, compared with a 5.2 percent drop in the benchmark Sensitive Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Travel is surging in India, where the economy is estimated by the government to grow 9.25 percent in the current fiscal year, the fastest since the 12 months ended March 2008. The number of domestic flyers rose 19.6 percent in the first two months of 2011 from a year earlier, the government said.
SpiceJet expects surging demand to help offset rising fuel costs, Sridharan said.
“We expect supply will grow slower than demand, which means that planes will be fuller,” he said. “Hence, giving the airlines the ability to pass on the rising fuel prices to the consumer.”
The price of aviation turbine fuel in Mumbai has jumped 25 percent this year, according to data on the Bloomberg.
Apr 8th 2011 23:51
Self EmployedSpiceJet Ltd., India’s second- biggest discount airline, will start flying turboprop planes in July to the country’s smaller cities and towns.
The carrier’s purchase of the 15 Bombardier Inc. (BBD/B) Q400 planes will be funded by a loan from state-run Export Development Canada, Chief Commercial Officer Samyukth Sridharan said in Hyderabad today. He declined to provide details, including the amount and tenure of the borrowing.
New Delhi-based SpiceJet will get access to more cities in India with turboprop planes because there are several airports with runways too short for aircraft such as Boeing Co.’s 737s to land, Sridharan said. Larger rival IndiGo has announced plans to buy 180 Airbus SAS A320 jet planes and begin service to the Middle East and Southeast Asia starting in August.
“The enormous potential in the Indian domestic market can be further tapped by enhancing regional connectivity,” Neil Raymond Mills, chief executive officer at SpiceJet, said at a news conference in Hyderabad today. “We see a very robust and latent demand in these under-serviced sectors.”
Hyderabad Hub
SpiceJet, backed by billionaire Kalanithi Maran, will add the 15 Q400s to its fleet by July 2012, Mills told Bloomberg-UTV in an interview. The planes will cost $450 million at list price, he said.
The airline last year ordered the turboprops and took options for another 15. It also signed up for 30 Boeing 737s. The southern Indian city of Hyderabad will be the first regional hub for the Q400s, Mills said.
Shares of SpiceJet fell 3.8 percent to 43.25 rupees at the 3:30 p.m. close in Mumbai. They have declined 47 percent this year, compared with a 5.2 percent drop in the benchmark Sensitive Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Travel is surging in India, where the economy is estimated by the government to grow 9.25 percent in the current fiscal year, the fastest since the 12 months ended March 2008. The number of domestic flyers rose 19.6 percent in the first two months of 2011 from a year earlier, the government said.
SpiceJet expects surging demand to help offset rising fuel costs, Sridharan said.
“We expect supply will grow slower than demand, which means that planes will be fuller,” he said. “Hence, giving the airlines the ability to pass on the rising fuel prices to the consumer.”
The price of aviation turbine fuel in Mumbai has jumped 25 percent this year, according to data on the Bloomberg.
Apr 8th 2011 23:51
Sponsor Ads
Comments
No comment, be the first to comment.