SpiceJet will operate a charter flight from Amsterdam to Bengaluru on August 1 which will fly onwards to Hyderabad, marking the launch of its long-haul operations.
In a tweet, the airline said it will operate its first long-haul flight to bring back Indians waiting to come from Europe. “First flight departs from Amsterdam on August 1. Limited seats available,” the tweet says. The airline will operate an Airbus A-330 New Engine Option aircraft for this flight. It was not immediately clear where SpiceJet had got the A-330 NEO on wet lease (which means it will come with the cockpit and cabin crew of the airline or company from which SpiceJet is taking this aircraft).
Currently, the airline has a fleet of Boeing 737 and Bombardier aircraft, both of which cannot fly non-stop between Amsterdam and India. SpiceJet’s announcement of a flight from Amsterdam comes in the back drop of India having announced earlier that it will follow an open sky policy with any country which is over 5,000 km away. Amsterdam falls in this category.
The SpiceJet flight is expected to land in Bengaluru early in the morning on August 2 and after a brief stop will reach Hyderabad at 5.30 a.m.
Officials at online travel company EaseMyTrip said the flight is not open for sale on major travel systems and that the aircraft will fly back empty from India.
This development comes days after SpiceJet was designated as an Indian carrier to fly to both UK and the US.