No-frills carrier SpiceJet has reported a net profit of ₹58.9 crore for the second quarter ended September 2016, an increase of 103 per cent over the ₹29-crore net profit reported during the same quarter previously.

This is the seventh consecutive profitable quarter for the airline since there was a change in its management and control in December-January this year.

A statement from the company says that for the latest quarter the airline reported an operating revenue of ₹1,400 crore showing a growth of 35 per cent. On the Earnings before Interest, Depreciation, Amortisation and Rentals basis, the company reported a profit of ₹333 crore, a margin of 24 per cent.

Later speaking to newspersons in a conference call, Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, said that the average fare realisation per passenger stood at ₹3,354 for the latest quarter against ₹3,187 in the previous quarter. “There has been a 29 per cent increase in the number of passengers that the airline carried in the latest quarter as compared to the same quarter previously,” he added.

Singh indicated that the company was “in the final documentation process” for placing orders for new aircraft and should be able to place the order in the next two to three weeks. “It will be in excess of 100 aircraft. We will only go with one manufacturer,” he said, declining to get into the specifics of how many aircraft SpiceJet was planning to order.

He indicated that the company will focus on ordering the single aisle aircraft first before ordering more regional jets. The airline already has a fleet of 31 single aisle Boeing 737 aircraft and 17 Bombardier Q-400 aircraft.

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