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Low cost airline SpiceJet has zeroed in on Hyderabad international airport as its first base for deployment of a new fleet of Bombardier's Q-400 aircraft to connect tier-II and tier-III cities.
The company will be inducting 15 Q-400 aircraft in the next 12 months starting from July this year at a cost of $450 million. The Q-400 aircraft, which will be flying in India for the first time, has a seating capacity of less than 80.
Mr Neil Mills, Chief Executive Officer of SpiceJet, said the new fleet will be servicing destinations such as Aurangabad, Bhubaneswar, Goa, Indore, Madurai, Mangalore, Nasik, Rajahmundry, Tirupati and Vijayawada.
“The Hyderabad airport provides state-of-the-art infrastructure to support our plans for the Q-400 aircraft. The south central location of Hyderabad reduces flying time to any of the regional cities by15 to 20 minutes,” he told newspersons here on Friday.
Higher connectivity
SpiceJet has a well developed network in south India with the current b-737 fleet with 18 daily departures from Hyderabad. “We believe that enormous potential in the Indian domestic market can be further tapped by enhancing regional connectivity. We have selected the Q-400 turboprop aircraft from Bombardier to facilitate this objective, especially as these aircraft require a relatively shorter runway,” he said.
He estimated that this region had the potential for serving 70 million passengers. The Hyderabad airport, which has a capacity for 12 million passengers annually, can be expanded to serve 40 million passengers, according to Mr Vikram Jaisinghani, Chief Executive Officer of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.
More pilots
The company, which has on its rolls 300 pilots, will be taking on board 150 more to handle its new operations in the next 12 months. It presently operates 186 flights daily to 20 Indian cities with a fleet of 28 Boeing 737-800 and 737-900 aircraft commanding a market share of 13 per cent.
Asked about the rising fuel costs, Mr Mills said the company may have to revise its fares, while constantly working on increasing efficiency.
Bombardier mulls MRO
Mr Trung Ngo, Vice-President (Sales Asia Pacific) of Bombardier, said the company may look at setting up a MRO facility in India to service its Q-400 aircraft. At present, 400 of these aircraft are playing across different countries, each costing about $30 million.
He estimated the Indian civil aviation sector to see induction of 700 aircraft in the next 20 years.
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