Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has announced several new flights starting in a couple of days. Many of these will be between metro cities with tier-2 towns under the government's regional connectivity scheme, while others will be additional flights to already existing routes.
26 new flights
Budget airline SpiceJet has announced the launch of 26 new flights starting July 22nd. Some of the new flights are part of the state-subsidized UDAN scheme, which promotes air links to tier-2 and -3 cities. These include services between Nashik and Hyderabad, and Khajuraho and Delhi.
Some of the other connections as part of the latest expansion include direct flights to Nashik from Delhi, Hyderabad to Jammu, Mumbai to Guwahati, Jharsuguda, and Madurai, Varanasi to Ahmedabad, and Kolkata to Jabalpur.
The airline is also planning to increase flight frequencies to existing popular routes, where traffic remains high such as flights between Ahmedabad-Jaipur, Delhi-Hyderabad, Delhi-Dharamshala, and Amritsar-Ahmedabad.
Shilpa Bhatia, SpiceJet's Chief Commercial Officer, commented,
“We are delighted to announce the launch of 26 new flights across different sectors. The launch of these new flights on important routes will help us strengthen our status as the country’s most preferred airline for flyers. Our new UDAN flights are a testimony to our commitment to connect the unconnected parts of the country and cater to rising passenger demand across the country.”
Frequency
SpiceJet will offer a daily service on the following sectors:
Hyderabad and Delhi to Nashik, Hyderabad to Jammu (one-stop), Mumbai to Guwahati, Varanasi to Ahmedabad, and Kolkata to Jabalpur.
Flights from Mumbai to Jharsuguda will operate thrice a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and flights between Mumbai and Madurai will operate on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
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Delhi and Hyderabad will see additional flights on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, while the Ahmedabad-Jaipur route will see an additional daily flight.
This is SpiceJet's second such announcement this year regarding a network expansion of this scale. In April, the airline also informed about having a busy summer schedule with multiple new flights within India and abroad.
Growth amid controversies
The airline's announcement of network growth follows several negative reports of aircraft-related incidents, DGCA's show-cause notices, and court cases.
Recently, an individual approached the Delhi High court, asking it to halt the airline's operations until it takes care of its operational issues. However, the court dismissed the plea.
Following a series of incidents over the last few weeks, India's aviation regulator, the DGCA, has also asked SpiceJet to explain why action shouldn't be taken against it.
With all the recent coverage, it's good to see the airline make news for growth and expansion.
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Source: The Times of India