The low cost carrier SpiceJet has got ministry of civil aviation’s approval to operate daily flight to Colombo. The carrier, however, has been allowed to fly on Chennai-Colombo route instead of its original plan to fly on Delhi-Chennai-Colombo route.

The Gurgaon-based carrier is aggressively looking at expansion. It is planning to start its international flights from second half of this financial year. “There are four destinations Kathmandu, Dhaka, Male and Colombo that we have earmarked for our international operations. We’ll focus on that. Though the dates for commencing international operations are not finalised yet, it would be somewhere around September end,” Kishore Gupta, interim chief executive director (CEO) of SpiceJet said.

The much-awaited approval comes after the carrier last month approached the ministry second time with a modified plan. “They wanted to fly from Delhi, but that was not working out. Now, we have allowed them to operate a daily flight from Chennai to Colombo,” a senior aviation ministry official, who did not wish to be named, said.

The aviation ministry was reported to have rejected SpiceJet’s earlier plea on the grounds that the traffic in that sector was not sustainable for any third airline to enter.

The carrier has placed an order of 30 737-800 Boeing aircraft worth $2.7 billion. The delivery of these planes would begin from 2014.

“This year we are going to add seven Boeing aircraft and almost same number next year. Earlier, we were planning to induct only four aircraft this year. However, seeing the growth in aviation, we have zeroed in on seven aircraft. We expect SpiceJet to take a disproportionate share of the growth,” Ajay Singh, director, SpiceJet said.

Sun TV founder Kalanithi Maran recently bought 37.7 per cent stake in SpiceJet. Singh said, even after the change in ownership, there is no plan to re-brand the airline. “We might change our registered office to Chennai but headquarter would remain same. We are in no plans to re-brand the carrier,” Singh said.

The carrier on Tuesday reported over 100 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 55.2 crore in the first quarter of 2010-11 from Rs 26.3 crore in the same period a year ago. Its revenue increased 35 per cent.

“Our seat load factor rose from 76 per cent to 88 per cent. The increase in revenue is mainly because of the higher yields of about 6-7 per cent,” Singh said.

parulchhaparia

@mydigitalfc.com