Aerospace Diary

by  Neelam Mathews  - January 15, 2015, 12:21 PM Only 17 of 35 Boeing 737-800s delivered to SpiceJet still operate with the ailing carrier. (Photo: Boeing) The co-founder of Indian budget airline SpiceJet has agreed to take control of the airline as part of an effort to stem the  struggling carrier’s losses . Crippled by a fiercely competitive environment, rising costs and burdensome taxes, the airline informed the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday that the board had agreed to the proposal of the principal shareholder, Kalanithi Maran, to transfer the ownership, management and control of the company to original promoter Ajay Singh and a consortium consisting of two or three private equity fund companies, including JP Morgan. Singh will hold the controlling stake in the company with 26 percent of the shares. Under the plan to transfer ownership, SpiceJet, which owes $32 million to the Airports Authority of India, would get an ...

AINONLINE by    NEELAM MATHEWS Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has increased its order for Boeing 737 Max airliners. [Photo: Neelam Mathews] March 12, 2014, 11:53 AM India’s SpiceJet has confirmed an order for 42 of Boeing’s new 737 Max 8 narrrowbodies. The $4.4 billion deal was previously logged as being for an unidentified customer by Boeing and was announced on Wednesday at the India Aviation show in Hyderabad. It includes changes to previously announced business. The contract builds on a deal signed by SpiceJet in 2010 when it ordered 25 737  NG s with deliveries to start in 2015. Now SpiceJet has converted 12 of these to the new Max 8 model, featuring the more fuel-efficient  CFM  International Leap 1-B engine, adding to the 30 Max 8s that it already has on order. Currently, the SpiceJet fleet comprises 15 Bombardier Q400s and 43 Boeing 737- 900ER /800s, with four more expected to be delivered by Decem...

AINONLINE by    NEELAM MATHEWS Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev (right) and Bombardier president and CEO Pierre Beaudoin meet in Astana on February 26. March 4, 2014, 11:12 AM The Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan plans to launch a domestic airline, Air Kazakhstan, in early 2015 with a fleet of 10 new Bombardier Q400 twin turboprops. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the plans with Bombardier president and  CEO  Pierre Beaudoin on February 26 following a meeting between the two at January’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss wider cooperation in air and rail transport. “We can build on the experience of starting a new airline from Air Astana,” a 12-year-old joint venture between Kazakhstan’s national wealth fund Samruk Kazyna and the  UK ’s  BAE  Systems, confirmed Nazarbayev. “We plan to transfer technology, provide training to Kazakhstan’s pilots, construct a...

Neelam Mathews Dec 16, 2012 Even as the last two of the 15 ordered Q400s join the SpiceJet fleet by end of the week, the airline is talking to Air Works and GMR MAS for maintenance checks for its Bombardiers, Aerospace Diary learns. While both the facilities are not as yet certified, with the checks a few years away, the facility will get the certification by the time the aircraft is ready to go for its check, a ministry official told Aerospace Diary. This will save ferrying costs to Europe, we are told.   aerospacediary

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Aug 29, 2012 Bookings for tickets is now open for SpiceJet flights starting Sept 20 from the newly inaugurated Madurai Airport to Colombo on its Q400.   Madurai is SpiceJet’s second destination connecting to the Sri Lankan capital. Presently, it operates direct fights between Colombo and Chennai. T he Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft can accommodate 78 passengers and is widely accepted as the best short-haul plane globally.  “We are committed to provide an affordable air journey to the people without compromising ….,” SpiceJet CEO, Neil Mills said. SpiceJet Delhi-Kabul service started on August 14. 

Neelam Mathews April 18, 2012 For a change, the government has put its words where its mouth is. SpiceJet today said it has received approval from the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for importing aviation turbine fuel (ATF) directly from the overseas market. In doing this, it has become the first airline in the country to apply for approval for import of ATF and to get clearance for it. The airline says it is presently negotiating with leading oil marketing companies and is hopeful to start importing fuel in due course. This is going to make a big change in the way distribution is presently done in the country . Aerospace Diary learns discussions are already on with Reliance who may agree to take care of logistics of import and sale of ATF through their present facilities. It is likely the other oil companies will not stand and watch their business dry out. So, now the cost-cutting war will be on the apron front! How the ...

Neelam Mathews Sept 26, 2011 Budget SpiceJet will get its fifth Bombardier turboprop Q400 this week. The carrier has on order 15 Q-400s. The sixth aircraft to be delivered end-October will be based in Chennai in all probability as the airline looks to strengthen its regional base in the south of India.  The carrier was earlier debating its second base after Hyderabad to be either Chennai ar Ahmedabad.

The World Neelam Mathews Aviation Week & Space Technology Nov 15 , 2010 , p. 17 An agreement to purchase 15 Bombardier Q400 turboprops has established SpiceJet as the most aggressive among India’s budget carriers in pursuit of the country’s fast-growing regional routes. Indian aviation has been on a growth spurt for the past decade, but of the country’s estimated 400 commercial transports in service, 261 are single-aisle jets seating 100 or more passengers. Only 20 are regional aircraft of fewer than 90 passengers, so acquiring 15 of the 78-passenger Q400s has drawn attention. Deliveries are to start in the second quarter of 2011 and be completed in 12 months. Bombardier opened an office in Mumbai earlier this year. Credit: SPICEJET SpiceJet currently operates 22 aircraft, all Boeing 737-800/900ERs. During President Barack Obama’s state visit to India last week, Boeing revealed that 30 737-800s (sh...

Low-Cost carriers Aviation Daily Nov 05 , 2010 , p. 08 Neelam Mathews India’s budget carrier SpiceJet has placed an order worth $450 million at list price for 15 Bombardier Q400s, plus 15 options. Deliveries start in the second quarter of 2011, with all deliveries to be completed within 12 months, Chief Commercial Officer Sam Sridharan told AVIATION WEEK. On Nov. 2, the carrier reported a return to profit of $2.5 million for the quarter ending in September 2010, versus a loss of $22 million for the same quarter last year. “The decision to buy the Q400s has been based on the markets we are looking at where we would like to fly,” says Sridharan. The aircraft was chosen on the basis of the support in training and setting up offered by Bombardier, he added. A growing appetite among Indian carriers to serve regional routes makes the country a potentially big market for 250 regional jets with a capacity of up to 120...