Story ID: 
India’s SpiceJet To FlyQ400s Starting In June
By: AIN Staff
Caption: Indian low-fare carrier SpiceJet plans to buy as many as 30 Q400 turboprops from Bombardier in a deal worth up to $900 million.

“The [SpiceJet] boar
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Indian low-fare carrier SpiceJet plans to buy as many as 30 Q400 turboprops from Bombardier in a deal worth up to $900 million.
“The [SpiceJet] board has approved a firm order for 15 and 15 on option,” SpiceJet CEO Neil Mills told AIN. “It has gone to the aircraft review committee and we expect to sign the agreement most probably by the end of [November]. We expect the deliveries to commence from June 2011.
The new aircraft would help support the low-cost carrier’s aggressive expansion ­after media magnate Kalanithi Maran bought a 31-percent share in the company.Indian airlines have witnessed a steady rise in demand for domestic travel on the subcontinent. Air traffic rose 19.3 percent, to 33.9 million passengers, in the first eight months of this year. SpiceJet plans to boost services to smaller cities in India. “We will deploy [the Q400s] on second- and third-tier cities to further tap the enormous potential of the Indian domestic market,” said Mills. “Routes are identified and are waiting for approvals.”
SpiceJet stands to become the first operator of the Q400 in India, a market where ATR has already established a foothold with its turboprops. The carrier plans to configure the Bombardier aircraft in its full capacity of 78 seats.   
With 22 Boeing 737-800s and 737-900ERs, the airline now controls 13 percent of the Indian domestic market and reported a profit of $2.3 million in the third quarter. SpiceJet launched its first international flights last month, to Kathmandu and Colombo.