Spicejet to fly to London from Delhi, Mumbai

Spicejet on Monday said it would operate non-stop flights connecting Delhi and Mumbai with London from December 4. The airline will become the first Indian low-cost carrier to operate flights to the UK. At present, Air India and Vistara fly to Heathrow airport.

Spicejet on Monday said it would operate non-stop flights connecting Delhi and Mumbai with London from December 4. The airline will become the first Indian low-cost carrier to operate flights to the UK. At present, Air India and Tata group-owned Vistara, both full-service carriers, fly to Heathrow airport. While the return fare for economy class has been fixed at ~53,555, for business class it would be ~1,47,627 for Delhi, and ~1,53,383 for Mumbai.

The flights will operate under the air bubble agreement with the UK. The Delhi-london return flights would operate twice a week, while the Mumbai-london flight would operate once a week. Spicejet would use an Airbus A330-900neo aircraft for these flights. The 371-seater twin-aisle A330 has a configuration of 353 economy and 18 business seats.

Speaking at a virtual conference, Spicejet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said while London is the first long-haul destination for Spicejet, the airline would announce more such long-haul destinations in the future. “People trust Spicejet and its network in India. We believe people will like to fly with us to London rather than some other network carrier,” he said.

Spicejet is starting its long-haul flights at a time when the aviation industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. Scheduled international passenger services continue to remain suspended in India since March 23. Singh said that while a complete recovery would take almost a year, limited travel would ensure the aviation industry goes on.

“It’s also an opportunity to do new things. It's the only airline from India that can fly into the UK under the bubble and it’s an opportunity to do such things,” he said.