SpiceJet is in discussion with manufacturers for ordering more planes and funding is not an issue for the airline, Ajay Singh, the airline promoter said on Thursday.
“We have not discussed any specific numbers, but we expect the aircraft order will be a sizeable one. Negotiations have been on for a while and we expect to complete the negotiations and place the order this financial year,” Mr. Singh said on the sidelines of conference on Civil Aviation organised by theAssocham.
The issue of how many firms and how many options the orders will be for, will be decided during the course of negotiations, Mr. Singh added.
He also said the decision would also be taken on the 55 Boeing MAX aircraft SpiceJet had ordered earlier during the on going negotiations.
“We will let you know when we finalise the order. There is no paucity of capital available to SpiceJet. We have many offers of capital and depending on how much capital is required to fund the purchase,” Mr. Singh said when asked how the mega order for SpiceJet will be funded.
He added that there were also offers of strategic investment by funds and airlines without getting into specifics.
Asked whether the airline planned to take any more Airbus A-320 on short term lease, Mr. Singh said it depends on the capacity requirements of the airline. “If we need capacity and we do not find Boeing capacity we will use Airbus capacity.”
The airline is to get five more Boeing 737 on a winter period which will be used to operate 40 more flights during the winter schedule. The flights will be a combination of domestic and international services, Mr. Singh said.
