Spicejet adds aircraft but fares continue to rise

NEW DELHI: Average airfares in India soared after the nation joined others in grounding Boeing’s 737 Max jets, shrinking capacity in the world’s fastestgrowing aviation market.

Spicejet, which grounded 12 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft following safety concerns on Tuesday, will push two additional aircraft into service from Saturday, which it has got on wet lease from Corendon Airlines, two officials familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The Boeing 737 New Generation is expected to reduce inconvenience for a short while.

Spicejet is in talks with Corendon Airlines for more aircraft.

Average fares on 14 main routes jumped more than 65% on Thursday, compared with a year ago, data from online travel agent Yatra.com showed. In contrast, fares on average were up just about 30% on February 12, when India was yet to decide on grounding the Boeing jets, the data showed.

Tickets from the technology hub of Bengaluru to the financial capital of Mumbai were selling for ~12,748 on Thursday, compared with ~8,643 two days ago, according to Yatra.

Global regulators from China to the US have grounded the bestselling Boeing plane after a 737 Max jet flown by Ethiopian Airlines Group crashed minutes after take off, five months after a Lion Air jet of the same type plunged off the coast of Indonesia. As many as 13 aircraft of Spicejet narrow body fleet was idled after the ban. Spicejet is one the biggest customers for Boeing with as many as 205 of the Max jets on order.

“The DGCA’S decision to ground 737 Max aircraft has resulted in a fairly significant impact on the airfares for imme- diate travel on certain key routes,” said Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer of the businessto-consumer segment at Yatra Online Pvt. “With current increase in load factors and this reduction in capacity, we expect airfares to rise further in the short to medium term.”

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has asked airlines to keep fares at regular levels, and all airlines agreed not to indulge in “predatory pricing,” B.S. Bhullar, the head of the agency said on Wednesday.

“We are in touch with Spicejet