SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International) is in discussions with Boeing regarding an incremental order for B737 MAX aircraft and hopes to obtain a very good price due to the type's grounding and poor sales, Chief Executive Ajay Singh told Bloomberg.
Singh did not disclose the size or the expected timing of the order but hinted that the announcement could follow shortly.
The Indian low-cost carrier took delivery of thirteen B737-8s prior to the type's grounding in mid-March 2019. It has a further 129 aircraft on firm order from Boeing. Earlier this year, it agreed to take four B737 MAX 8s initially ordered by now-defunct Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International).
SpiceJet is still expecting the B737 MAX to be recertified by the end of 2019, paving the way for the return to commercial service in the first quarter of 2020. Chief Financial Officer Kiran Koteshwar told Indian news agency IANS that the airline would expect deliveries of up to twenty-five B737 MAX 8s very shortly after the type's ungrounding. Koteshwar added that SpiceJet will not be adding other types of aircraft until the B737 MAX return to avoid overcapacity in 2020 and it will cap its fleet size, including the B737 MAX, at the present level of 119 units.
SpiceJet currently operates seven B737-700s, fifty-two B737-800s, one B737-900, four -900(ER)s, and thirty-two Dash 8-400s, the ch-aviation fleets module shows. Its cargo division SpiceXpress operates three B737-700(F)s and one B737-800(F) (with another one due for delivery shortly).
During the Dubai Airshow 2019, Boeing secured a firm order for ten B737-7s and ten B737-10s from an undisclosed customer.
