SpiceJet Sees Quarterly Profit Improvement

May 19, 2016

SpiceJet hopes to place an order for more than 100 single-aisle planes in the next two to three months, its chairman said, as the airline reported a surge in quarterly profit.

SpiceJet disclosed plans in November to buy more than 150 planes and that it was in talks with both Boeing and Airbus. Its current fleet is mostly Boeing planes.

SpiceJet's net profit more than tripled to INR730 million rupees (USD$10.8 million) for the three months to March 31, from INR225 million a year earlier.

The results included one-time gains of about INR637 million rupees, and also one-time expenses of INR1.73 billion towards "stabilising and improving the reliability of its fleet", the airline said.

Ajay Singh, who last year took over the airline, rescuing it from the brink of collapse, told a news conference that operations had stabilised and the carrier was cleaning up legacy issues.

Talks are also continuing with small aircraft makers to potentially add to its fleet of 14 Bombardier Q400 turboprops, Singh said.

He had said in November that SpiceJet was in talks with Bombardier, ATR and Embraer for 50 more smaller planes.

India's highly-competitive airline sector has benefited from lower fuel prices and growing passenger numbers.

(Reuters)