Spicejet launched six new additional flights anticipating a surge in demand owing to the upcoming holiday season. The new seasonal flights will be effective from December 22, 2017 and will continue till February 5, 2018, the company said. The airline will operate the new daily direct flights on the Chennai - Kochi, Chennai - Kolkata and Kolkata - Port Blair routes. SpiceJet will deploy its Boeing 737-800 aircraft on these sectors. Leisure travel sees a seasonal surge during the winter months.
Christmas and New Year signals the beginning of the winter tourist season in India.
Bookings for tickets are now open on www.spicejet.com, SpiceJet's mobile apps and through online travel portals and travel agents, the company said. SpiceJet operates 396 average daily flights to 51 destinations, including 44 domestic and 7 international ones.
Domestic airlines carried 954.45 lakh passengers in the first 10 months of 2017 (January-October), as against 813.70 lakh in the corresponding period of the previous year, registering a growth of 17.30 per cent, according to data from aviation regulator DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation).
According to rating agency Icra, domestic passenger traffic growth moderated to 16.3 per cent in the first half of financial year 2018, after having grown at above 20 per cent over the last two years. Though the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices remained higher during the first half on a year-on-year basis, the ability of the airlines to pass-on the same supported the profitability of the industry during H1 FY2018, Icra noted.
Going forward, strong demand during the peak season is expected to support the industry profitability in the second half of FY2018, the domestic credit ratings agency added.
