SpiceJet to buy 100 planes

New Delhi: Budget carrier SpiceJet on Wednesday said it plans to buy around 100 new planes as part of a long-term business plan and is in talks with global aircraft makers including Boeing and Airbus.

“We need to have some long-term aircraft order so that we can put a business plan around it. The next logical step, after the revival is that we need to have a long-term vision and for that we need aircraft order,” SpiceJet CFO Kiran Koteshwar said.

The Gurgaon-based airline, which was on the verge of closure late last year, had on Tuesday reported its second straight quarterly profit at Rs 71.8 crore in the three months ended June as against a net loss of Rs 124 crore in Q1FY15. The order should be around 100 planes, he said adding, “It could vary depending on the economic obligation and what we need to pay.”

In March last year, the airline had placed order for 42 Boeing 737 MAX jets worth Rs 26,000 crore with the Boeing Company. He said “the legacy issues we had are being sorted out but operationally we are fine and can pay our bills with the cash.”

Currently, SpiceJet has 34 aircraft in the fleet, comprising 18 Boeing 737s, two Airbus A319 (on wet-lease) and 14 Bombardier Q400. “We are talking to all the manufacturers. Airbus, Boeing and others also on smaller aircraft such as Bombardier, ATR and Embarer. Formally it takes 3-6 months for order,” official said.