Dubai: Indian low cost carrier SpiceJet wants to set up hub operations in Dubai and is planning to ask the emirate’s government permission to do so “sooner rather than later.”
Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, told Gulf News in Dubai on Sunday that the carrier wants to permanently base aircraft here to carry passengers from India to Dubai and beyond.
Establishing hub operations in Dubai will likely place it in direct competition with government-owned airlines Emirates and flydubai on non-Indian routes. But Singh is bullish on his chances of receiving local approval.
“I think Dubai is incredibly focused in what makes commercial sense and as long as this makes commercial sense [we can get permission],” he said.
Singh earmarked Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC), Dubai’s developing mega hub airport, as SpiceJet’s future possible “home away from home.”
“They have a fantastic new airport coming up with a lot capacity and I think they will see if they allow this to happen there will be much better utilisation of that capacity,” he said.
Dubai International, the emirates main airport where SpiceJet flies to eight times a day from India, is already heavily congested, making it an unlikely option. So plans to attract traffic to the new airport could be seen as a win-win for the Indian airline and Dubai government.
Singh did not say when the airline will formally seek permission other than it will be “sooner rather than later.”
In March 2014, Emirates airline President Tim Clark said Indian airlines were flagging the idea of setting up hub operations at DWC.
In the short term, SpiceJet is planning to add more flights to Dubai from India, increasing to as many as 15 daily services, Singh said earlier at a press conference.
New routes
SpiceJet recently launched flights from Kozhikode and Amritsar and is now looking at Hyderabad and Jaipur.
“We want to build this city (Dubai) into our main international hub going,” Singh said.
Plans to develop a permanent hub in Dubai will start with increasing flights to 15 a day before partnering with other airlines to carry passengers to other points.
Singh said after that the airline will look to to start its own flights from Dubai to non-Indian destinations.
Singh is a SpiceJet co-founder who retook control of the airline last December after management suspended services amid worsening losses. He has since overseen three consecutive quarters of net profit and touted plans to order more than 150 new aircraft by March 31, 2016.
The airline is in talks with Boeing and Airbus for an order of over 100 new generation single aisle aircraft worth $11 billion at list prices. It is interested in the Boeing 737MAX and the Airbus A320neo (new engine option). It is also talking to Bombardier, ATR and Embraer for an order of around 50 smaller sized, regional jet-type aircraft.
Singh said SpiceJet is now generating enough cash to support the huge aircraft order but also has access to unused credit lines. He said the airline has halved its debt by 50 per cent since last December.
“We are very comfortable with where we are,” he said.
