Indian low cost carrier Spicejet is expanding. The airline lost its number two position by market share to Air India for first half of 2021. Starting August 20, 2021, the airline will launch flights to Bhavnagar in the western Indian state of Gujarat and connect the city with Delhi, Mumbai and Surat.
The airline will also add few more flights across its network, with most of them being monopoly flights. The airline has been working towards having monopoly routes to avoid direct competition with IndiGo. In pursuit with the same philosophy, the airline is launching flights between Mumbai and Kishangarh, Delhi and Belgavi and Gwalior and Jaipur. The airline has suddenly put spotlight on Gwalior – which happens to be hometown of the Minister of Civil Aviation – Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia.
The airline will also connect Bengaluru to Vizag and add a frequency on Delhi – Jammu sector.
The Mumbai – Kishangarh sector will be served four times a week, while Bhavnagar will be served from Delhi and Mumbai on all days except Tuesdays. Bhavnagar will be connected to Surat on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The aerial distance is just 91 kms between the two but the road distance is over 350 kms as the gulf of khambhat lies between the two.
SG3002 BOM1240 – 1450KQH 1,3,5,7
SG3003 KQH1510 – 1720BOM 1,3,5,7
SG3001 DEL0635 - 0845BHU x2
SG3001 BHU0905 - 1010BOM x2
SG3004 BOM1420 - 1525BHU x2
SG3004 BHU1545 - 1750DEL x2
SG2035 JAI0630 - 0730GWL 1,3,5,7
SG2036 GWL0800 - 0900JAI 1,3,5,7
SG3422 STV1335 - 1420BHU 4,6,7
SG3423 BHU1420 - 1525 4,6,7
The airline has already started services on Bengaluru – Vishakhapatnam sector as well as twice weekly flights between Belagavi and Delhi. Spicejet has also added capacity between Delhi and Jammu with 6x weekly flights. These flights are operated by B737 series.
Bhavnagar is one of the largest cities in Gujarat. It is an important centre for trade and home to many large and small scale industries. Bhavnagar, is also a favourite tourist destination in Gujarat, with several temples, blackbuck national park, lakes and beaches among others.
With the new flights, passengers from Bhavnagar, Kishangarh (Ajmer), Belagavi, Jammu and Vishakhapatnam will now be able to easily travel to a host of cities on SpiceJet’s domestic as well as international network.
Network Thoughts
With the next set of flights, Spicejet continues to differentiate itself form the rest by starting monopoly sectors. However, except for RCS-UDAN, competition is not far behind. The differentiator which the airline has here is the Q400 aircraft which is faster and can fly longer than IndiGo’s ATR. This allows the airline to cater to routes like Kandla or Bhavnagar from Delhi.
Kishangarh and Darbhanga have been big success stories for RCS-UDAN and routes which can sustain on their own without subsidy in future. The airline strengthening Kishangarh – which serves Ajmer and Pushkar, is a testimony of the same
NetworkThoughts 