NEW DELHI, May 23: No-frills airline SpiceJet today said it has sought regulatory approvals for operating 7,000 seats a week to Qatar and talks were on with certain investors who had evinced interest in investing in it.
“We have been in discussions (with investors) and…. when the time is right we will take a decision,” SpiceJet’s Chief Operating Officer Sanjiv Kapoor told a press conference here while refusing to elaborate.
He said a few investors had evinced interest in the company and, besides, the promoters were pumping in money into the airline. SpiceJet recently posted a loss of over Rs 1,000 crore for fiscal 2014.
Kapoor also termed as “completely baseless” reports that the Indian carrier was selling some of its slots to Qatar Airways or any other airline.
SpiceJet sent a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, saying it “denies having any discussion with Qatar Airways for the sale of overseas slots, as reported. We also confirm that there is no truth whatsoever in the scheduling of a meeting to discuss investment plans with Qatar Airways.”
Kapoor said the Kalanithi Maran-promoted airline has applied to DGCA for allowing rights to fly 7,000 seats a week to Qatari capital of Doha. The airline currently flies to Dubai, Sharjah and Muscat in the Gulf.
Replying to questions on international operations, he said SpiceJet was considering to fly to Dhaka soon and was likely to add more flights to Dubai when repair works being carried out on the runways there were over.
He said it was also mulling adding frequencies to Kabul and resuming flights to Bangkok when the political situation improves there.
“Down the road, flights are also being considered for Hong Kong but we will review that again,” Kapoor said, adding that increasing frequency of flights in the domestic market over the next few months was also on the anvil. He, however, did not give any further details.
Regarding its fleet induction programme, the SpiceJet COO
said the airline would have 38 Boeing 737s by the year-end, which seat between 189 and 212 passengers. It also has 15 78- seater Bombardier Q-400s which it already operates.
To questions on its financials, Kapoor said, “You can’t turn an ocean liner around overnight, but we are starting to move in the right direction. Turnaround will be very visible soon.”
On the pay package for its pilots and cabin crew, he indicated that the package could undergo a hike soon and “we will have to make up for the additional cost by enhancing productivity”, including better crew rostering and lesser number of overnight halts, especially at foreign stations.
SpiceJet also announced partnership with aircatering firm TajSats and Cafe Coffee Day to offer all new and enhanced menu of food on its flights from today, with the two partners handling all the airline’s catering.
The in-flight food could be booked on its website at a discounted rate of up to 25 per cent relative to on-board prices. Pre-booking of food would be available up to 24 hours before the flight departure.
Kapoor said that SpiceJet was working towards becoming like a JetBlue or Virgin America by pursuing its business model in terms of being “a hybrid” between a no-frill and a full-service carrier or a “modern low-cost carrier”.
Besides having more leg room for the premium economy seats in the first five rows of the aircraft, “we have redesigned routes to be more attractive for corporate customers,” he said, adding that the airline was also spending on marketing to encourage people to try it. (PTI)
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