Gurugram: Struggling airline SpiceJet has signed a lease to induct 8 Boeing 737 aircraft, strengthening its existing fleet to 18 aircraft, according to an announcement made to the bourses. This is in addition to two earlier lease agreements inducting 10 Boeing 737s, scheduled to join the fleet in October 2025, ahead of peak holiday season.
“We are delighted to announce the addition of eight more Boeing 737 aircraft to our fleet, taking our total planned inductions to 18 aircraft for the Winter Schedule 2025. These additions reaffirm our commitment to expanding capacity, ensuring seamless connectivity, and offering a superior flying experience to our passengers. With the upcoming festive and winter travel season, these aircraft will allow us to enhance frequencies on key routes and cater to the growing passenger demand,” Debojo Maharshi, Chief Business Officer at SpiceJet, said.
SpiceJet has been struggling to pay its salaries lately, with senior staff receiving their salaries after a delay of 10-15 days, according to reports. Despite this, the company has lent an interest-free loan of Rs.32 crore to its Chairman and MD, Ajay Singh, for a period of five years, according to a report in IANS.
The Gurugram-based airline has been unprofitable for years, only achieving a Rs.48 crore profit in FY25, before slipping back in the red in the April-June quarter. Despite this, the management is aiming to expand its fleet to cater to the festive season.
“We will more than double our current operational fleet of 21 aircraft by mid-Nov 2025 and our daily flights will also more than double from the current 125 to 275-300. We have already finalised damp lease agreements for 18 aircraft, which will start joining from October and stay with us through the peak winter season into early summer 2026.” Debojo Maharshi adds.
Currently, the airline is the fourth largest in the country, after IndiGo, Air India Group and Akasa. The market dynamics are set to change further as all three have ordered hundreds of planes between them, as the demand for flights is set to grow exponentially.
Despite growing demand, operating an airline has always been a challenge in India, with Jet Airways (shut down in 2019), Kingfisher Airlines (2014) and GoFirst (filed for bankruptcy in 2023), failing to stay afloat. Running an airline requires significant capital investments in aircraft, Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), skilled staff, airport fees, and regular maintenance costs that can be quite volatile, even as revenues may not always offset the incurred costs. Fiscal discipline, operational efficiency and technological investments are crucial here. Investors who’ve put in Rs.3,000 crore into SpiceJet in September 2024 hope their investments will help the company return to profitability.
