SpiceJet on Friday launched flight from Kochi connecting Maldivian capital city Male. The airline will also be connecting Kochi with Dubai from the second week of December.
Addressing a press conference here, Harish Kutty, chief commercial officer, said the company would soon launch overseas services from cities like Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode as overseas travel flow, especially to the Gulf routes, was on the increase. It also planned to operate more services connecting Tier II and III cities. The company had acquired 12 Bombardier Q400 aircraft for enhancing connectivity to these cities.
He said there would be daily direct flight from Kochi to Male and Dubai and inaugural ticket fares are as low as Rs 4,999.
This is the first international launch of SpiceJet on any international route from Kerala. At present it operates international flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Madurai.
The airline has deployed Bombardier Q400 aircraft on the Kochi-Male route. The aircraft can accommodate 78 passengers. The airline's Kochi – Dubai and Ahmedabad - Dubai route will deploy Boeing 737 -800, which have a capacity of 189.
Under the network expansion plan, SpiceJet will also be launching daily direct flight to Dubai from Ahmedabad from December 19.
With these new routes, the total number of international destinations on SpiceJet network would increase to five. At present SpiceJet flies to Kathmandu, Colombo, Kabul, and Dubai.