SpiceJet to lease over 100 new single-aisle aircraft soon

SpiceJet plans to induct over 100 narrow-body planes in the next few months as the budget carrier seeks to tap growing domestic demand.Asserting that the carrier would now start with a "clean slate", SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh claimed that every single financial issue emanating out of legacy has been addressed.

The airline reported more than three-fold rise in net profit at Rs 73.19 crore in the March quarter.

Aided by higher revenues and lower fuel costs, SpiceJet remained profitable for the fifth straight quarter posting a net profit of Rs 73.19 crore in the fourth quarter of last financial year.

It had a net profit of Rs 22.52 crore in year-ago period.

In the latest March quarter, the airline took a "one-time expense of Rs 173 crore towards stabilising and improving the reliability of its fleet".

During the latest March quarter, the airline's total income from operations climbed to Rs 1,474.99 crore from Rs Rs 790.91 crore in the same period a year ago.

"We think that we are now in a position to start with a clean slate. We hope to build up on this in the following quarters," Singh said, adding that three pending settlement claims are being worked out.

He also said that discussions are going on for placing an order for more than 100 single aisle aircraft.

Noting that the idea is to get the aircraft order right, Singh said, "we need the costing right, the delivery slots right and put in place the maintenance arrangements norms for the order".

Besides, SpiceJet is negotiating with aircraft makers for 50 planes that would be used for regional air connectivity.

"We need to add capacity and we are doing this by way of dry leasing. We will continue to add aircraft on dry lease.

"... By June, we would have added six dry lease aircraft, basically as replacement for the wet leased ones," Singh said.

Operations have stabilised with on-time performance at around 90% and cancellations rates being the lowest in the industry, SpiceJet said.

In the 2016 March quarter, the carrier's total expenses went up to Rs 1,460.39 crore from Rs 888.83 crore in the year-ago period.

During this period, Singh said fuel expenses fell by 25% while fares also came down.

For the financial year 2015-16, SpiceJet saw its net profit surging to Rs 407.19 crore against a net loss of Rs 687.05 crore in 2014-15 fiscal.

"We had inherited a deeply stressed company last year. We are delighted that we have made significant progress both financially and operationally, and have significantly strengthened our balance sheet," Singh said.