Spicejet launches flights to Chennai, Hyderabad

Budget airline Spicejet has launched daily flights to Chennai and Hyderabad from here, as a part of its plans to connect 12 tier-II and -III cities across the country.
   
The services, which began on Thursday with the arrival of the first flight from Hyderabad, will be mostly operated by the airline's fleet of Q400 Nextgen Turbotrop aircraft, Spicejet CEO Neil Raymond Mills told reporters on Friday.
   
"Spicejet Airlines has been fast expanding its domestic footprint with Q400 Nexgen turbotrop aircraft from Bombardier. Its fleet addition aims at enhancing air connectivity to tier-II and III destinations including Aurangabad, Bhopal, Goa, Nagpur, Pune, Rajamundhry, Pune, Tirupati, Trivandrum and Vijayawada," he said.
   
The new services offer "affordable and competitive" rates to travellers, the airline official said.
   
The airline had placed orders for a total of 30 Q400 Nexgen which can accommodate 78 passengers and are widely accepted as an ideal short-haul flights.
   
Five aircraft have already been delivered and another two are expected by this month end.
   
The airlines had recently announced the addition of Tiruchirappalli as its 30th destination, he said.
Source: ZeeNews

SpiceJet mulls partnerships with non-Indian carriers

Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet is exploring the possibility of partnering other low-fare and full-service carriers.

This could help it to increase its footprint in west Asia, southeast Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), said a spokeswoman.

However, she declined to provide details on the airlines SpiceJet is negotiating with.

"SpiceJet will likely start with interlining agreements," she said, adding that this will allow both SpiceJet and its partners to feed into each others' network.

This comes as SpiceJet works to expand its domestic network as it receives more Boeing 737s and Bombardier Q400 turboprops.

The company is looking for a second base for its Q400s in addition to Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. The turboprops will serve Tier II and Tier III destinations, while the main 737 fleet is based in Hyderabad, Bangalore's Bengaluru International Airport, Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and Chennai International Airport.

The carrier has 25 Boeing 737-800s and five Boeing 737-900ERs in service.
Source: Flight Global