Budget carrier SpiceJet will resume its flight services to Bangkok from next month.
The Kalanithi Maran-promoted private carrier had launched flights to Bangkok from Pune and Bangalore with much fanfare last October but scrapped both the services at the start of summer schedule this year, citing low passenger demand.
Airlines’ summer schedule in India commences from late March and lasts till October every year.
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However, this time the airline has chosen flight services to Bangkok from Kolkata daily instead of Pune and Bangalore.
Flight services on Bangkok route will commence from September 25 and this will be SpiceJet’s first direct international flight from Kolkata, the airline said in a release here.
The airline has also rolled out special promotional fares for its Kolkata-Bangkok flight, which will be SpiceJet’s first direct international air service from West Bengal’s capital, offering an all inclusive one way fare of Rs. 2,999 (Kolkata-Bangkok) for a limited period, the release said.
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“We believe there is tremendous opportunity in the Kolkata-Bangkok market, and this flight will also connect passengers to and from other Indian destinations to Bangkok via Kolkata,” SpiceJet Ltd. chief operating officer Sanjiv Kapoor said.
The airline has timed the launch of this flight to coincide with the start of the Puja Holidays and festive season, Mr. Kapoor said adding that with Thailand offering visa-on-arrival for Indians, and with unbelievably low introductory fare, SpiceJet is hopeful of a good seat factor on this new route.
SpiceJet shares surge 12.60%
Shares on Monday climbed nearly 13 per cent, in-line with a strong stock market, ignoring the disappointing June quarter earnings.
SpiceJet’s scrip zoomed 12.60 per cent to settle at Rs. 13.49 on the BSE. In intra-day, the stock surged 13.52 per cent to Rs. 13.60.
On the volume front, 74.42 lakh shares of the company changed hands at the BSE during the day.
SpiceJet had on Thursday reported a net loss of Rs. 124.10 crore for the three months ended June, mainly bogged down by higher expenses.
The no-frills carrier had a net profit of Rs. 50.56 crore in the year-ago period.
In the first quarter of current fiscal, the airline saw its total income from operations slide to Rs. 1,691.04 crore from Rs. 1,701.54 crore recorded in the same period a year ago.
Besides, the company’s expenses climbed to Rs. 1,782.95 crore in the latest June quarter. In the comparable period, the same stood at Rs. 1,641.93 crore.
Meanwhile, in the broader market the Sensex ended at 26,390.96, up 287.73 points.