Low-cost airline Spicejet is planning to add 23 new aircraft to its fleet by 2008. Following this, it will operate more than 250 flights to around 24 destinations, offering over 35,000 seats per day.The airline would add 5 aircraft by end-2006, 10 by end-2007 and 8 more by end-2008. Currently, the 6 aircraft with the airline are used to operate 49 flights to 11 destinations daily, Sanjay Kumar, associate VP (marketing & planning) of Spicejet, said.Spicejet is in talks with Exim Bank for financing the new aircraft, estimated to cost about $2 billion. Funding arrangements were expected to be finalised by end-2006, Kumar said.Spicejet wants to make Hyderabad an important destination for the airline... the company would be starting flights from Hyderabad to Tirupati and to Kolkata by this year-end. Besides, flights between Hyderabad and Delhi would be increased from 2 to 3 and from Hyderabad to Mumbai from 1 to 2 per day, Kumar said.The airline had recorded the highest load factor of 86% since launch. It had also registered the lowest cancellation compared with its competitors, Kumar said.
