Gulf airlines seek stake in SpiceJet

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Gulf airlines seek stake in SpiceJet
Chairman of Sharaf Travels Salah Sharaf, Ajay Singh and senior vice-president of commercial at SpiceJet Shilpa Bhatia addressing a press conference in Dubai on Sunday.

Airline plans to order 150 new aircraft by March.

By Abdul Basit

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Published: Sun 29 Nov 2015, 11:00 PM

Last updated: Mon 30 Nov 2015, 8:10 AM

Dubai: Gulf airlines have shown interest to acquire a stake in SpiceJet, a top executive from India's low-cost carrier said in Dubai on Sunday.
Etihad Airways already has stakes in eight companies. Earlier this month, Qatar Airways said it was interested in boosting its 10 per cent holding in British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group SA and also taking up to a 49 per cent stake in Indian budget carrier IndiGo.
"Some Gulf airlines have expressed an interest in SpiceJet as we have come back into the market. But this is not the right time to be diluting the equity," chairman Ajay Singh told reporters at a news conference without going into the specifics. "There is some ongoing dialogue and we continue to explore other types of relationships," he added.
He ruled out any immediate plan to sell a stake by saying that the shares remain undervalued.
SpiceJet operates 291 daily flights to 40 destinations, including 34 domestic and six international. SpiceJet connects its network with a fleet of 25 Boeing 737NG and two Airbus A320 family aircraft along with 14 Bombardier Q-400s.
Plane order
SpiceJet plans to order more than 150 aircraft worth over $15 billion at list prices in the first quarter of next year. The airline is in talks with the top two commercial airplane makers and deals are expected to be finalised by the end of March 2016, Singh said.
"We are in the process of placing a large aircraft order. The airline will order in excess of 150 planes. We hope to do it this financial year," Singh explained.
The airline is looking at both Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 Max, he said, adding: "We have received offers from both of them."
He added that the order would be with a single manufacturer.
He said SpiceJet is generating enough money to pay for the aircraft order, but may also use various forms of credit financing options subject to requirements.
Dubai-India flights
SpiceJet aims for more connections and increased frequency to India from Dubai, the chairman said.
The airline plans to start flights to Hyderabad and Jaipur from Dubai, with the aim to increase frequency of flights to existing destinations, he told reporters.
"We have eight flights a day from Dubai and we want to increase it to 15 flights a day in the coming quarters. We are looking to increase frequency to our existing destinations in India and add new destinations such as Hyderabad and Jaipur," the chairman added.
abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com


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