SpiceJet, which launched its international operations on Thursday, will be concentrating more on expanding international operations.
The Gurgaon-based low-cost carrier launched its international operations with a flight to Kathmandhu from here, to be followed by a Chennai-Colombo flight early tomorrow morning.
“We received a good response to our Delhi-Kathmandu flight and operated it with around 90 per cent occupancy. Our Chennai flight is also looking good,” said Chief Commercial Officer Samyukth Sridharan.
He said they’d be connecting Mumbai to both Kathmandu and Colombo and also increase frequency in the Delhi-Kathmandhu sector. “We also plan to launch a flight from Bangalore to Kathmandhu via either Kolkata or Ahmedabad, as there is a demand for flights to these cities. In this flight, we will also be able to carry domestic passengers,” Sridharan told Business Standard.
SpiceJet qualified to fly abroad in May, after it completed five years of flying in domestic skies. It got permission to fly to Colombo, Kathmandu, Dhaka and Male. The airline has started flights to Kathmandu and Colombo and operations to Male and Dhaka wil start in the next financial year.
Its domestic expansion plan is modest. It is taking deliveries of three airplanes in a month and will be putting these in the domestic network. “We will increase frequencies in the domestic routes but do not have any plans to add any new station,” Sridharan said.
He said the average domestic fares had firmed up by around three per cent compared to the last financial year and the airlines are much more modest in adding capacity now.