SpiceJet

SpiceJet
IATA
SG		 ICAO
SEJ		 Callsign
SPICEJET
Founded 2005
Commenced operations 18 May 2005
Hubs
Secondary hubs
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer program SpiceJet MAX[2]
Fleet size 35
Destinations 41[3]
Company slogan Whatever We Do, We Do It With All Our Heart
Headquarters Gurgaon, India[4]
Revenue Increase US$ 964.13 million (2013)
Employees 5,252 (2013)
Website spiceJet.com

SpiceJet is an Indian low-cost airline. It is the country's fourth largest airline by domestic passenger share.[5] The airline operates more than 270 daily flights to 41 destinations, including 34 Indian and 7 international cities[3] using a fleet of Boeing 737 Next Generation and Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft.

The airline began services in May 2005[6] and has its corporate office in Gurgaon, Haryana.[7]

History

1993–1996: ModiLuft era

Main article: ModiLuft
A Boeing 737-200 in a livery similar to that of Lufthansa.

The origins of SpiceJet track back to February 1993 when ModiLuft was launched by Indian industrialist S K Modi, in technical partnership with the German flag carrier Lufthansa. The airline ceased operations in 1996.

2005–2013: Inception and expansion

SpiceJet Boeing 737-900ER taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad

In 2004, Ajay Singh raised funds and restarted operations as SpiceJet following the low-cost model.[8] SpiceJet leased 3 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.[9] On 7 March 2005, the Airports Authority of India approved three overnight parking slots to SpiceJet, with two in Delhi and one in Mumbai.[10] SpiceJet opened bookings on 18 May 2005.[11] The first flight was flagged off by then Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Praful Patel. The first Boeing 737-800 aircraft left Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi for Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai on 24 May 2005.[12] By 2008, it was India's second-largest low-cost carrier in terms of market share.

Indian media baron Kalanidhi Maran acquired 37.7% stake in Spicejet in June 2010.[13][14] In 2012, SpiceJet suffered from a loss of over INR390 million (US$6.2 million) owing to increase in global crude prices.[15] On 9 January 2012, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, reported that several airlines in India, including SpiceJet, have not maintained crucial data for the flight operations quality assurance or the FOQA.[16] The Bombay stock exchange announced that ever since June 2011, Spicejet had been suffering losses.[17] In 2012, Despite the losses, Kalanithi Maran increased his stake in Spicejet by investing INR1 billion (US$16 million) in the airline.[18] The airline returned to making profits at the end of the year.[19] In 2013, SpiceJet launched its first interline pact with Tigerair on 16 December 2013.

2014-present

In July 2014, SpiceJet announced up to 50 per cent discounts due to competition.[20] In December 2014, SpiceJet cancelled many domestic flights across the country.[21] Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued warning over non payment of salaries and dues, while the airport operators moved to put the carrier on cash-and-carry mode, which means the airline can use the facilities of an airport only upon immediate payment.[22] On December 17, all flights were grounded after oil companies refused to refuel its planes.[23] Flights resumed the next day.[24] In January 2015, the board of directors of SpiceJet transferred control of the airline to Ajay Singh, the founder of SpiceJet who also used to run the airlines earlier.[25]

Destinations

Revenue Passenger Kilometres (Total)
Year Traffic
2008 4397
2009 4819
2010 6807
2011 8639
2012 10322
Source: SpiceJet annual reports
Main article: SpiceJet destinations

SpiceJet currently operates over 270 flights daily to 34 Indian and 7 international destinations. The airline flies Boeing 737-800 and −900ERs nd Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s. After completing 5 years of flying, SpiceJet was allowed to commence international flights by the Airports Authority of India on 7 September 2010. SpiceJet launched flights from Delhi to Kathmandu and Chennai to Colombo. The first international flight took off on 7 October 2010 from the Delhi airport.[26] In April 2011, SpiceJet announced that they chose Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport as the primary base for its new fleet of Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft.[27] On 12 January 2012, SpiceJet's fleet went up to 40 as Boeing delivered a brand new 737-800 aircraft.[28]

Fleet

Bombardier Dash 8 at Changi airport, Singapore.
Bombardier Dash 8 at Changi airport, Singapore.

SpiceJet placed its first firm order for 20 Next-Generation Boeing 737-800s in March 2005, with deliveries scheduled up to 2010.[29] Again in November 2010, SpiceJet order for another 30 Boeing 737-800s with winglets in the presence of the American president, Barack Obama. Neil Mills, the chief executive officer of SpiceJet said "We are extremely satisfied with the Next-Generation 737—an airplane that is reliable, allows for greater efficiency in maintenance and supports the business plan for low-cost carriers".[30] On 9 December 2010, Bombardier Aerospace announced that SpiceJet placed a firm order for 15 Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners and has also placed an option to buy another 15 of those. SpiceJet used its fleet of Q400s for short-haul operations.[31] Each aircraft in the SpiceJet fleet is named after a spice[32][33] SpiceJet sold five of its old Boeing 737-800 to other operators on receiving new ones. One of the five was SpiceJet's own which is now in the possession of Somon Air.[34] In February 2012, SpiceJet announced that it would take the delivery of ten more aircraft during 2012, of which seven would be the Bombardier Q400.[35] In March 2014, Spicejet signed a $4.4 Bn deal with Boeing for procurement of 42 737-8 MAX aircraft.[36]

As of May 2015, the airline has the following fleet:[37]

SpiceJet fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers
(Economy)		 Notes
Boeing 737-800 19 — 189 all dry leased
Boeing 737MAX 8 — 42 — —
Boeing 737-900ER 1 — 212 —
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 15 15 78 1 dry leased
Total 35 57

Current fleet

SpiceJet currently has a fleet consisting of 19 Boeing 737-800/900ER aircraft and 15 Bombardier Q400 aircraft and it is in the process of leasing 7 additional Boeing 737-800 by April-May 2015.[38] It will wet-lease 3 Boeing 737-800 aircraft from Prague based Travel Service Airlines.[39]

Services

In-flight entertainment

MaXposure Media Group, an integrated media solutions company publishes SpiceRoute, the official in-flight magazine.[40]

SpiceMax

SpiceMax is a combo offer provided by the airline that includes priority check-in and extra legroom seats. At international airports across India, SpiceMax guests are provided assistance at a dedicated SpiceMax counter and are checked in first.[2]

Spice Add-ons

Spice Add-ons has a host of benefits that includes domestic travel insurance, in-flight meals, excess baggage allowance, bag out first, SpiceMax, student discounts and other offers.

SpiceConnect

SpiceConnect is an exclusive membership with features such as a personalized dashboard to smoothen the booking process, express bookings to make quick bookings, a safe store to make quick, secure payments, and a feature that keeps you updated with the latest offers from SpiceJet.

My Spice Trip

This is a travel service in partnership with tripfactory.com. This is a separate product offering travel search and deals for travel and hotels.[41]

Awards and achievements

References

  1. ↑ http://spicejet.com/newspage.aspx?strNews=RGIA_KeyBaseForSJ_Q_400_Operation
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Introducing SpiceJet Max". SpiceJet. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Now, SpiceJet offers Rs 499 fare on domestic network". Times of India. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "SpiceJet Contact Information | SpiceJet Airlines". Spicejet.com. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  5. ↑ "SpiceJet edges past Jet Airways to be second largest passenger carrier for July". Business Standard. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  6. ↑ Nair, Vipin V. (4 July 2008). "SpiceJet Rises in Mumbai on Report of Kingfisher Deal (Update2)". Bloomberg. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  7. ↑ "Contact Us." SpiceJet. Retrieved 24 January 2013. "Corporate Office: SpiceJet Ltd., 319, Udyog Vihar, Phase IV, Gurgaon – 122016 Haryana, India." and "Registered Office: Murasoli Maran Towers, 73, MRC Nagar Main Road, MRC Nagar, Chennai- 600028, Tamil Nadu."
  8. ↑ "Company History – SpiceJet". moneycontrol.com. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  9. ↑ "SPICEJET SELECTS BOEING". SpiceJet. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  10. ↑ "SpiceJet gets AAI approval for parking slots in Mumbai and Delhi". SpiceJet. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  11. ↑ "SpiceJet books 37,000 seats on day 1.". SpiceJet. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  12. ↑ "Shri Praful Patel flags off SpiceJet.". SpiceJet. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  13. ↑ "Kalanithi Maran to buy 37% stake in SpiceJet". The Economic Times. 11 June 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  14. ↑ "Kalanidhi Maran buys 37.7 p.c. stake in SpiceJet". The Hindu. 13 June 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  15. ↑ "Fund infusion critical for SpiceJet". Business Standard. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "IndiGo, SpiceJet airlines violate mandatory safety norms: DGCA". India Today. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  17. ↑ "Standalone Result – 31-Dec-11". Bombay Stock Exchange. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  18. ↑ "Marans to pump Rs 100 cr into SpiceJet, up stake to 48.6 pc". CNN-IBN (India). Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  19. ↑ "SpiceJet returns to profit". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  20. ↑ "Jet Airways, SpiceJet offers 50 percent discount". Patrika. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  21. ↑ Kandavel, Sangeetha (9 December 2014). "SpiceJet cancels 1,800 flights". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  22. ↑ Mishra, Mihir (9 December 2014). "Airport operators put SpiceJet on cash-and-carry". The Economic Times. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  23. ↑ "SpiceJet: Indian airline planes 'grounded'". BBC. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  24. ↑ "SpiceJet: Indian airline resumes flights". BBC. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  25. ↑ Mishra, Laltendu (15 January 2015). "SpiceJet changes hand". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  26. ↑ "SpiceJet to commence international operations. Booking opens for flights to Colombo and Kathmandu.". SpiceJet. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  27. ↑ "Hyderabad’s RGIA to be a key base for SpiceJet’s Q-400 operations". SpiceJet. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  28. ↑ "Jet Air, SpiceJet Rise in Mumbai on Foreign Investment Plan". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  29. ↑ "Star Navigation Announces Firm Orders from SpiceJet.". SpiceJet. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  30. ↑ "Boeing, SpiceJet Finalize Order for 30 Next-Generation 737-800s". Boeing. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  31. ↑ "Bombardier Sells 15 Q400 NextGen Aircraft to India's SpiceJet". Bombardier. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  32. ↑ "CH-Aviation – Airline News, Fleet Lists & More". Ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  33. ↑ "SpiceJet – Details and Fleet History – Planespotters.net Just Aviation". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  34. ↑ Thomas Noack. "SpiceJet's historic fleet". planestoppers.net. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  35. ↑ "Auditors cast doubts on SpiceJet's ability to stay afloat". Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  36. ↑ "Boeing, SpiceJet ink $4.4 Bn deal for 737-8 Max Aircrafts [sic] at India Aviation 2014". IANS. Bihar Prabha. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  37. ↑ 5 December 2014. "SpiceJet Fleet in Planespotters.net". planespotters.net. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  38. ↑ "SpiceJet says disputes with aircraft lessors resolved".
  39. ↑ "Indian LCC Spicejet to lease three Czech B737s".
  40. ↑ "SpiceRoute". MaXposure Media Group. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  41. ↑ "Spicejet partners with Tripfactory.com to launch MySpiceTrip.com". Travel.financialespress.com. Retrieved 10 November 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SpiceJet.