Budget airline SpiceJet on Monday said it was hopeful of finding a potential investor soon, even as it launched the process to revamp its route network to return to profitability.
“We are talking to people. We want right partner in equity perspective...Hopefully soon,” Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer of SpiceJet, said in response to a query on equity dilution, without disclosing more details.
SpiceJet ltd and Tigerair, Singapore’s largest budget airline, today signed a three-year interline agreement for greater connectivity between their carriers.
Bain and Co, which was earlier appointed to chalk out a financial turnaround of the airline, is expected to submit its recommendations next month, Kapoor said.
SpiceJet posted a record loss of `559 crore in the quarter ended September 30 owing to rupee depreciation, high fuel prices and lean travel season.
Talking about the proposed revamp, Kapoor said: “Significant differences will be visible in three to four months. We will be pretty much a new airline in the consumer point of view in six to eight months...And complete turnaround in a year. That’s the lead time required.
“...But for the financial turnaround, the network turnaround and complete new airline, it will take six to 12 months,” Kapoor told reporters in a press conference, adding that there are internal issues such as poor optimisation of network that contributed to recent financial losses.
“Network recommendations would be complete by early January. We may have the first phase of network plan executed starting from February and would be completed by the summer schedule,” he added.
On fleet size, Kapoor said as many as 19 Boeing 737 have been ordered. Some of existing aircraft would be replaced with new ones and some leased ones would be returned, he added.
Currently, the fleet size is 57 (42 Boeing 737s and 15 Q-400s).
The partnership with Tigerair will result in a major boost for tourism and business travel between the two countries, said a press release issued by Spicejet.
Starting from January 6, 2014, customers travelling on SpiceJet’s domestic network from 14 Indian cities can have seamless connection through Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport onto Tigerair’s Singapore-bound flights.
Similarly, starting from January 12, Tigerair customers from Singapore will also enjoy easy access to SpiceJet’s wide domestic network. Spicejet shares rose 7.64 per cent to Rs 16.90 on BSE.