If you’ve been planning a winter trip and noticed that flights feel a bit harder to book, SpiceJet has some news that might make your travel plans easier. The airline has announced that it is planning to add up to 100 extra flights every single day during the winter schedule.
SpiceJet Plans To Add 100 Daily Flights This Winter
SpiceJet wants to increase the number of flights it operates across the country because winter travel demand is booming. People are travelling for holidays, weddings, festivals, and year-end vacations, and flights are filling up fast. To help meet this growing demand, the airline is looking at adding those 100 additional flights, Business Standard reported. Of course, it still needs the usual regulatory approvals.
This announcement comes just after the government told IndiGo, India’s largest airline, to cut its winter schedule by 10%. IndiGo has been facing major disruptions and cancellations since December 1, and the reduction is meant to help it stabilise. With IndiGo trimming flights and demand rising, there is a clear gap in the market. SpiceJet sees this gap and is stepping forward.
Under the current winter schedule, SpiceJet has approval for 1,568 flights per week (224 flights every day). This is already almost 21% more than what it operated last winter. And compared to the summer schedule earlier this year, it’s a 26% jump, Business Standard reported.
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A Big Winter Upgrade For Travellers
Over the past two months, SpiceJet has increased its active fleet. It has brought 17 aircraft back into operations by bringing in planes on damp lease, restoring its own grounded aircraft, and adding more planes back to daily service
The airline explained that having more planes allows it to place additional flights on busy routes, improve its network stability, and serve more passengers during peak travel season, according to Business Standard reports. SpiceJet also mentioned that the goal this winter is to add even more aircrafts and use each of them more efficiently.
SpiceJet’s plan to add 100 daily flights is not just a small operational change. It’s a major winter strategy. If all approvals come through, this could be one of SpiceJet’s biggest winter expansions ever.
Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons/Sridhar Rao