SpiceJet

SpiceJet

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IATA ICAO Callsign SG SEJ SPICEJET
Founded	2005
Commenced operations	18 May 2005 (2005-05-18)
Hubs	Chennai International Airport (Chennai) Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi) Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (Hyderabad)
Secondary hubs	Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Mumbai)
Focus cities	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (Ahmedabad) Kempegowda International Airport (Bangalore) Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (Kolkata) Cochin International Airport (Kochi)
Fleet size	34
Destinations	40
Company slogan	Red. Hot. Spicy.
Headquarters	Gurgaon, Haryana, India
Key people	Ajay Singh (CMD) Kiran Koteshwar (CFO) G.P Gupta (CAO) Debojo Maharshi (CMO)
Revenue	US$ 964.13 million (2013)
Employees	5,252 (2013)
Website	spiceJet.com

SpiceJet is an Indian low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, India. It is India's fourth largest airline by number of passenger carried with market share of 12.3% as of July 2015. The airline operates more than 270 daily flights to 40 destinations, including 34 Indian and 6 international cities.

History

1993–1996: ModiLuft era

Main article: ModiLuft

The origins of SpiceJet track back to February 1993 when ModiLuft was launched by Indian industrialist S K Modi, in technical partnership with the German flag carrier Lufthansa. The airline ceased operations in 1996.

2005–2013: Inception and expansion

In 2004, raised funds and restarted operations as SpiceJet following the low-cost model. SpiceJet leased 3 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. On 7 March 2005, the Airports Authority of India approved three overnight parking slots to SpiceJet, with two in Delhi and one in Mumbai. SpiceJet opened bookings on 18 May 2005. The first flight was flagged off by then Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Praful Patel. The first Boeing 737-800 aircraft left Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi for Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai on 24 May 2005. By 2008, it was India's second-largest low-cost carrier in terms of market share.

Indian media baron Kalanidhi Maran acquired 37.7% stake in Spicejet in June 2010. In 2012, SpiceJet suffered from a loss of over ₹390 million (US$5.8 million) owing to increase in global crude prices. On 9 January 2012, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, reported that several airlines in India, including SpiceJet, have not maintained crucial data for the flight operations quality assurance or the FOQA. The Bombay stock exchange announced that ever since June 2011, Spicejet had been suffering losses. In 2012, Despite the losses, Kalanithi Maran increased his stake in Spicejet by investing ₹1 billion (US$15 million) in the airline. The airline returned to making profits at the end of the year. In 2013, SpiceJet launched its first interline pact with Tigerair on 16 December 2013. As of 2015, Spice Jet is not much generating any interest in civilian passengers due to frequent cancellations of their flights. Their rival Jet Airways is much more consistent with their schedules.

2014-present: Downturn and upswing

In July 2014, SpiceJet announced up to 50 per cent discounts due to competition. In August 2014, SpiceJet became the second largest carrier in India's domestic market, in terms of passengers carried in the month of July, beating leading full service carrier Jet Airways for the first time in its operational history. In December 2014, SpiceJet cancelled many domestic flights across the country. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued warning over non payment of salaries and dues, while the airport operators moved to put the carrier on cash-and-carry mode, which means the airline can use the facilities of an airport only upon immediate payment. On December 17, all flights were grounded after oil companies refused to refuel its planes. Flights resumed the next day. In January 2015, the Sun group sold its entire shareholding to the airline's founder Ajay Singh and transferred control.

At the end of 2015, SpiceJet's operations experienced a significant upswing with 93% of available seats on flights being filled and only 0.13% of scheduled flights canceled each month. SpiceJet was profitable in three consecutive quarters, in contrast to the previous five quarters when they lost money.

Destinations

Revenue Passenger Kilometres (Total)

Year	Traffic
2008	4397
2009	4819
2010	6807
2011	8639
2012	10322

Source: SpiceJet annual reports

Main article: SpiceJet destinations

SpiceJet currently operates over 290 flights daily to 34 Indian and 6 international destinations. The airline flies Boeing 737-800 and −900ERs nd Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s. After completing 5 years of flying, SpiceJet was allowed to commence international flights by the Airports Authority of India on 7 September 2010. SpiceJet launched flights from Delhi to Kathmandu and Chennai to Colombo. The first international flight took off on 7 October 2010 from the Delhi airport. In April 2011, SpiceJet announced that they chose Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport as the primary base for its new fleet of Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft. On 12 January 2012, SpiceJet's fleet went up to 40 as Boeing delivered a brand new 737-800 aircraft.

Fleet

SpiceJet Boeing 737-900ER taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad

SpiceJet placed its first firm order for 20 Next-Generation Boeing 737-800s in March 2005, with deliveries scheduled up to 2010. Again in November 2010, SpiceJet order for another 30 Boeing 737-800s with winglets in the presence of the American president, Barack Obama. Neil Mills, the chief executive officer of SpiceJet said "We are extremely satisfied with the Next-Generation 737—an airplane that is reliable, allows for greater efficiency in maintenance and supports the business plan for low-cost carriers". On 9 December 2010, Bombardier Aerospace announced that SpiceJet placed a firm order for 15 Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners and has also placed an option to buy another 15 of those. SpiceJet used its fleet of Q400s for short-haul operations. Each aircraft in the SpiceJet fleet is named after a spice SpiceJet sold five of its old Boeing 737-800 to other operators on receiving new ones. One of the five was SpiceJet's own which is now in the possession of Somon Air. In February 2012, SpiceJet announced that it would take the delivery of ten more aircraft during 2012, of which seven would be the Bombardier Q400. In April 2015, the airline introduced 3 wet leased Boeing 737-800 from Prague-based Travel Service (airline) on a short term agreement.

As of December 2024, the airline has the following fleet:

SpiceJet fleet

Aircraft	In Service	Orders	Passengers (Economy)	Notes
Boeing 737-800	16		189	—
Boeing 737-700		—	149
Boeing 737 MAX 8	—	42	—	Deliveries starting 2017
Boeing 737-900ER	4	—	212	—
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400	14	—	78	2 stored following accidents
Total	34	42

Current fleet

SpiceJet currently has a fleet consisting of 16 Boeing 737-800, 4 Boeing 737-900ER aircraft and 14 Bombardier Q400 aircraft. In addition to this it also operates an Airbus A319 and an Airbus A320 on short term wet-lease from BH Air, the only Airbus aircraft in SpiceJet's operations. The airline is in process to increase its Boeing jet fleet to 25-26 from current 20 by the end of 2015 by leasing more Boeing 737 aircraft. In August, the airline announced that it will wet-lease 5 more aircraft during the winter 2015 season to re-launch 40 more daily flights which were earlier ceased due to shortage of aircraft.

New aircraft order

In March 2014, Spicejet signed a $4.4 Bn deal with Boeing for procurement of 42 737-8 MAX aircraft. SpiceJet also in talks with both Boeing and Airbus for a possible order of more than 100 single aisle aircraft, either Airbus A320neo or the familer Boeing 737MAX. Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief operating officer of SpiceJet, said the order is expected to be firmed up by March 2016.Currently {1 Nov 2015} he is not with Spicejet. Ajay Singh in conference in Dubai confirmed about the order of more than 150 planes in the current financial year.

Services

In-flight entertainment

MaXposure Media Group, an integrated media solutions company publishes SpiceRoute, the official in-flight magazine.

SpiceMax

SpiceMax is a combo offer provided by the airline that includes priority check-in and extra legroom seats. At international airports across India, SpiceMax guests are provided assistance at a dedicated SpiceMax counter and are checked in first.

Spice Add-ons

Spice Add-ons has a host of benefits that includes domestic travel insurance, in-flight meals, excess baggage allowance, bag out first, SpiceMax, student discounts and other offers.

SpiceConnect

SpiceConnect is an exclusive membership with features such as a personalized dashboard to smoothen the booking process, express bookings to make quick bookings, a safe store to make quick, secure payments, and a feature that keeps you updated with the latest offers from SpiceJet.

My Spice Trip

This is a travel service in partnership with tripfactory.com. This is a separate product offering travel search and deals for travel and hotels.

Awards and achievements

• India's Low Cost Airline by Outlook Traveller (2008, 2010, 2011 & 2012)
• India's International Low Cost Carrier of the Year- 2012 by Travel Agents Association of India. (TAAI)
• India's Most Outstanding Airline LCC-Domestic Award, by Travel and Hospitality. (2012)
• Best LCC Website at 'World Low Cost Airlines Asia Pacific Conference', Singapore. (2010, 2011 & 2012)
• India's Top 100 CIO Award for customer satisfaction and business growth category. (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 & 2012)
• India's best low-fare airline in a survey conducted by MaRs on behalf of Hindustan Times (Dec 2009)
• World Travel Market Award for multi-channel approach in distribution. (2009)

External links

• Official website