GOOD NEWS FOR FLYERS! INDIGO, SPICEJET, GOAIR & AIRASIA TO INDUCT 150 NEW AIRCRAFT TO CHECK AIRFARE HIKE
Airlines are likely to add 150 aircrafts in the financial year, mostly to operate on domestic routes, in order to ease the capacity limit in the Indian aviation market because of the grounding of debt laden Jet Airways. It may be noted that the lack of planes has led to cancellations and spurt in airfares in many sectors, pushing the government to intervene and seek ways to check exorbitant prices of air tickets. The beleaguered carrier operated a fleet of 119 planes at its peak.
IndiGo, India’s biggest airline by market share, will include the maximum 50 aircraft in its fleet. Vistara, the Tata-Singapore Airline joint venture, AirAsia India and SpiceJet are expected to add more aircraft than earlier planned while budget carrier GoAir will induct 10 planes. IndiGo’s deliveries will be as per schedule. “The airline would go with its pre-determined schedule of about one aircraft a week this fiscal,” an executive told the Economic Times.
In an attempt to bridge the capacity gap, low-cost airline SpiceJet is poised to add 27 aircraft, including five Bombardier Q400s aircraft. At present, it plans to include 23 more, enhancing new additions to 50. The carrier will also have to make up for 13 Boeing 737 Max planes grounded after the worldwide safety ban on them, as per the financial daily.
The daily quoted an unnamed executive as saying, “We are leasing Boeing 737 NG planes that were operated by Jet Airways and were grounded by lessors. These planes can join the system much faster.”
AirAsia India, which was to add seven aircraft during the current fiscal has decided to induct 14, five of them in July. Vistara will include 20 planes this year, up from 12 planned earlier, with the aircraft expected to start joining its fleet in June. National carrier Air India plans to get its grounded planes airborne by October. “We have over 25 planes of our fleet grounded due to want of spares,” an Air India official told ET.
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola last week mentioned that the 440 slots vacated by beleaguered airline Jet Airways at Delhi and Mumbai airports would be allocated to other carriers in a transparent manner.
- Source: https://bit.ly/2VoAg5n
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