SpiceJet to buy 100 jet

New Delhi, Jan. 13: Indian budget airline SpiceJet said on Friday it has agreed to acquire 100 new MAX 737 aircraft from Boeing, with an option for 50 more, as part of its expansion plans in the world’s fastest growing aviation market.

The deal is a welcome boost for Boeing in India, where SpiceJet is the US company’s only major customer among the budget carriers now dominating the country’s air industry. “This is an extremely competitive market,” Ajay Singh, SpiceJet’s chairman, said.

“What this aircraft order does is enhance our ability to be competitive in the future as it helps us reduce costs,” said Mr Singh, whose airline has about 13 percent of the Indian passenger market, while market leader IndiGo has 40 per cent.

SpiceJet, which was briefly forced to ground its fleet in late 2014 when it ran out of cash, is the fourth-largest Indian airline behind InterGlobe Aviation’s IndiGo, Jet Airways and state-run Air India.

Asia, especially India, is a key market for planemakers, with analysts expecting Indian passenger numbers to more than triple over the next 20 years as millions more people become wealthy enough to fly for the first time.

SpiceJet said altogether it has signed a deal to acquire up to 205 planes from Boeing, worth up to $22 billion at list prices, but that total includes 55 jets already announced in a 2014 deal and the possible follow-on order of 50 more.

SpiceJet, which has a current fleet of more than 40 planes, will take delivery of the first of its new jets in the third quarter of 2018. — Reuters