Airline News
SpiceJet looks at fleet renewal, Qatar denies interest
August 3rd 2015
Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet is in talks with Airbus and Boeing to purchase up to 100 new A320neo and B737 MAX aircraft as it looks to rebuild its business after almost collapsing last December, its chief financial officer, Kiran Koteshwar, told Reuters. Read More »
"We have to place an order so we have a long-term business plan in place. The focus is now on sizeable growth," Koteshwar said, adding the order, financed through fresh equity or debt, would be placed before the end of the current financial year and largely be on a sale and leaseback model to keep costs low. "SpiceJet has always been constrained by the lack of long-term orders. This will give us economies of scale and for our vendors and suppliers to see that we are growing," he said.
SpiceJet reported a 718.5 million rupee net profit last week for the quarter ended June 30, compared to a 1.24 billion rupee loss last year, after falling oil prices and a cost-cutting drive outbalanced a slump in revenues. At press time, Chennai-based SpiceJet had a fleet of 18 B737NGs and 14 Dash 8-400s, as its market share has shrunk to 12% in June from approximately 20% a year earlier after it cut capacity to evade bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways has issued a statement denying reports it is pursuing a stake in SpiceJet, but confirming its interest in LCC IndiGo. “Claims are being made in news reports that a consensus has been reached regarding an interline agreement, and that negotiations are set to continue in the near future. Qatar Airways presently does not have any form of interline agreement with SpiceJet, which is the simplest form of relations between any two airlines, and Qatar Airways is not planning to pursue any form of arrangement in the future,” the Akbar Al Baker carrier said. “These stake sale comments are unfounded and are believed to be deliberately spread to influence share valuations. In the same statement, Qatar Airways did, however, confirm it was talking to Gurgaon-headquartered IndiGo, a hugely profitable carrier with firm orders for 180 A320s, including 150 A320neos.
