Airbus A330-900neo (Photo: Website of Hifly, the Portuguese charter company from which SpiceJet has wet-leased…Read More

NEW DELHI: SpiceJet will become the first Indian low cost carrier (LCC) to operate a wide body aircraft on medium and long haul routes. The Ajay Singh-owned airline has taken an Airbus A330-900neo on wet lease (on rent with operating crew) from Portuguese charter firm Hifly. This aircraft will perform its first flight for the Indian budget airlines on August 1 when it brings home Indians from Amsterdam to Bengaluru.
“This A330-900 can do India-US nonstop. We plan to utilise it initially for charters to wherever the demand is for. Later it may be used for schedule flights under the travel bubbles India is forming with some countries. That is an option. For now, it will be used for charters that can be booked by any organisation or NGO,” said a SpiceJet official.
According to Hifly website, the A330-900 new engine option has 371 seats — 353 in economy and 18 business. Powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, the aircraft has a maximum range of 17,500 km. “The range with maximum passengers is 11,700 km. The maximum speed is 0.86 mach (1,062 kmph),” Hifly website says.
This aircraft will do the first medium haul flight for an Indian LCC when it departs Amsterdam Schiphol on August 1 at 2.45 pm, reach Bengaluru next day at 3.30 am and then leave for Hyderabad where it will arrive at 5.35 am (all timings local). “From India it can go anywhere as a charter depending on the demand,” said the official.
According to senior aviation analyst and head of CAPA Centre for Aviation (India) Kapil Kaul, the cost of dry-leasing (without crew) this aircraft is $ 7-7.5 lakh per month. “I see this as short and temporary operation for a limited period,” Kaul said.
SpiceJet was last week designated as a scheduled Indian carrier to operate flights to the US and UK. The airline is reportedly trying to get slots for London Heathrow.
SpiceJet is testing the waters for wide body operations with this move. At present, Air India is the only Indian carrier deploying widebody aircraft to rest of the world. Jet did the same till last year when it was grounded. Vistara has one twin aisle Boeing 787 Dreamliner and will shortly get one more. So far it has used the Dreamliner on domestic routes and now plans to use them for medium international flights whether as charters or repatriation till schedule services resume to the markets it has been eying like the UK.
The coronavirus pandemic is likely to see people prefer travelling nonstop between India and rest of the world wherever possible to do so like North America, Europe, Africa and Australia instead of going one-stop through the hubs in Gulf or Southeast Asia.
To be sure, SpiceJet’s financial condition is far from healthy. IndiGo is also looking at medium haul routes and it has several A321 XLRs (extra long range) on order. The XLR has a range of up to 8,700 km, making Delhi-London and Delhi-Tokyo nonstops possible. IndiGo is, however, yet to announce firm plans for medium hauls.