You may be facing an insolvency case, your shares are at a one-year low, and a good chunk of your aircraft is grounded. But when it's your birthday, you forget all your woes and head straight to the party capital, right?
At least, that’s what low-cost carrier SpiceJet decided to do on Tuesday morning as it marked 18 tumultuous years of existence. The airline announced new routes, including two international ones, and doubled down on its resolve to get its grounded aircraft, 25 at last count, back in service.
And oh, no coming-of-age birthday is complete without a party, so the airline has also put out a flash sale of tickets to India’s party capital Goa, priced at Rs 1,818.
The tickets from Mumbai and Bengaluru are already on sale. The ticket sales will run till Sunday and are valid for travel from July 1 till the end of the financial year.
There’s more, a free voucher worth Rs 3,000 to all passengers turning 18 in 2023. Under this first-come-first-served sale offer, passengers get preferred seats at flat Rs 18 and flat 50% off on SpiceMAX. Sale is only through the airline’s website and app.
"Our 18th anniversary marks the beginning of a new era for us with renewed hope and opportunities," said SpiceJet chairman and managing director Ajay Singh, adding, "SpiceJet will leave no stone unturned in its pursuit of excellence and will take every possible step that fuels our growth and helps us spread our wings wider than ever."
The airline is targeting the return of four of its grounded aircraft, two Boeing 737s and two Q400s, by June 15. SpiceJet has a total of 25 aircraft grounded. More planes will be back in operation in the following weeks, a statement released by the company said.
SpiceJet operated its first flight from Delhi to Ahmedabad on this day 18 years ago, back in 2005. Since then, founder Singh was forced to sell the airline to the Marans, only to buy it back from them when it was on the verge of closure nearly 10 years ago.
At one point in the years before the pandemic, the airline had captured the second biggest market share domestically though it has faced issues ranging from the grounding of aircraft to litigation from vendors and lessors over unpaid dues since then. An insolvency case is also pending against the Gurugram-based airline at the company law tribunal.
