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GURUGRAM, November 13, 2019:SpiceJet, India’s favourite airline, recorded a 52% rise in second quarter operational revenue to INR 2,845.3 Crore as it added more destinations and expanded its fleet of passenger and freighter aircraft. The Company posted a Loss of INR 462.6 Crore as against INR 389.4 Crore for the same quarter last year. This includes a loss of INR 180.3 Crore due to the forex impact under accounting standard IND AS 116; but for which the Loss would have been INR 282.3 Crore.
Operating revenue was INR 2,845.3 Crore for the reported quarter as against INR 1,874.8 Crore in the same quarter last year. For the same comparative period, operating expenses were INR 3,536.1 Crore as against INR 2,291.5 Crore; EBITDA before exceptional items were INR 90.8 Crore as against INR 310.4 Crore (loss); EBITDAR before exceptional items were INR 154.1 Crore as against INR 34.9 Crore (loss).
With the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX, the Company continues to incur various costs and losses with respect to these aircraft. The Company is in the process of determining the costs and losses (including opportunity losses) incurred by it and has initiated the process of seeking reimbursements and claims from the Aircraft manufacturer.
SpiceJet yet again excelled on operational parameters to report the highest passenger load factor amongst all airlines in the country all through the quarter. The average domestic load factor for the quarter was 92.6%. SpiceJet has recorded over 90% load factor for 53 successive months.
Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet said, “With the industry’s growth rate slowing down in the past few months the impact is evident on the bottom line. We, however, remain optimistic that the sector will regain the lost momentum as the inherent demand remains very strong.”
“The continued grounding of the 737MAX has hit our growth plans adversely and resulted in inefficient operations and as a result, increase in costs. Nevertheless, we have added 37 planes to our fleet in the past six months to ensure smooth operations and continued growth. The likely return to service of the 737 MAX early next year, and as confirmed by Boeing recently, would mean that SpiceJet has at its disposal more than 25 brand new planes and we look forward to it. The return of the 737 MAX will provide a huge boost to our operations and we are confident that with the rigorous scrutiny, the MAX will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly.”
Key business updates
SpiceJet consolidated its position at Mumbai Airport by shifting its operations from the Domestic Terminal (T1) to the state-of-the-art Terminal 2 (T2) at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Prior to that, the airline shifted domestic operations from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. The consolidation of operations at one terminal in Mumbai will enhance customer convenience and comfort, especially for passengers transiting between domestic and international flights and result in substantial savings for the airline.
The Company has started to reconfigure the cabins of the acquired 31 737NGs, which predominantly had two class seating, into Single Class seating.
SpiceJet recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Ras Al Khaimah International Airport L.L.C. to co-operate, develop and promote tourism in Ras Al Khaimah, U.A.E. and also work towards creating an aviation hub at Ras Al Khaimah International Airport. SpiceJet’s fleet now comprises of 118 aircraft. The airline operated 148 special flights carrying close to 11,000 Hajj pilgrims from Srinagar to Medina and Jeddah and back this year.
The airline during the quarter announced multiple new domestic and international flights and announced the addition of Rajkot as its 54th domestic destination. SpiceJet connected Mumbai with Hong Kong, Riyadh & Dhaka and also launched an additional frequency to Dubai from the city. Delhi was connected with Dhaka & Jeddah and Kolkata saw an additional frequency to Bangkok.
Being the country’s largest regional player, SpiceJet has been at the forefront as the most enthusiastic supporter of UDAN and now operates 49 daily flights under the Regional Connectivity Scheme. The most recent being the introduction of the daily direct flight on the Chennai-Durgapur route.
SpiceXpress fleet increased to four aircraft during the quarter operating scheduled services on Mumbai – Sharjah - Mumbai, Delhi – Hanoi - Delhi, Bengaluru – HongKong – Kolkata - Bengaluru, Delhi – Mumbai - Delhi, Chennai – Hyderabad – Delhi – Mumbai – Bengaluru - Chennai sectors.
In addition, SpiceXpress also operated charters in the Gulf region and transported livestock to Sharjah from Mumbai and non-scheduled services on Delhi – Indore –Ahmedabad – Bengaluru - Delhi and Delhi – Hyderabad – Chennai – Kolkata - Delhi sectors.
In the winter 2019 schedule, SpiceXpress has added Dhaka as a freighter destination operating Delhi-Kolkata-Hyderabad-Chennai route.
Fleet expansion outlook
The company has inducted three Boeing 737 NG aircraft, one Q400 and two Freighters during the quarter ended 30 September 2019 and plans to enhance passenger capacity by inducting aircraft on short term leases in the ongoing winter schedule.
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