Low-cost carrier SpiceJet, on Monday, announced it would start flights to the Guwahati, Silchar, and Aizwal from October in a bid to boost connectivity in the region. In a statement, the airline said that the new flights were being introduced to get the North-Eastern states "under its radar."
Following the news, SpiceJet stock was trading at Rs. 60.10 at around 11.45 a.m. on Tuesday, up 1.26 percent from its previous close on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
For the newly devised schedule, the carrier would deploy its Bombardier Q400 fleet.
"Flights to new sectors effective from October 4 include Kolkata-Silchar-Guwahati; Kolkata-Aizwal-Guwahati and Kolkata-Gorakhpur-Delhi," SpiceJet said.
SpiceJet will begin operating on the Kolkata-Vishakhapatnam-Kolkata sector from Nov. 1.
The low-cost carrier's new schedule will also include additional frequencies with a direct flight on its existing routes of Kolkata-Bagdogra and Kolkata-Guwahati.
"North East, despite being a crucial tourist locale, has been deprived of good air connectivity. Hence, our new schedule lays special attention on this region, connecting the major hub-ports of the seven sisters states and we look forward to further strengthen our presence in this market in the near future," Shilpa Bhatia, senior vice president, Spicejet, said in the statement.
The airline is offering tickets at an all inclusive introductory air-fares of Rs. 2,177 for the Kolkata-Aizwal and Rs. 1,899 for the Aizwal-Guwahati sector. In addition, the Mumbai-based carrier is also offering airfare of Rs. 3,699 for the Kolkata-Silchar route and Rs. 4,188 for the Silchar-Guwahati sectors.
SpiceJet, which had consistently maintained the highest Passenger Load Factor (PLF) among all carriers for the past few months, witnessed a decline to 92 percent during the month from 93 percent in June 2016. Its market share also dropped to 11.7 percent in July from 12.7 percent in June 2016.
