India's SpiceJet to induct 10 aircraft from September 2023

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's SpiceJet will add 10 Boeing 737 aircraft to its fleet between September and October to cater to the growing passenger traffic, the low-cost carrier said on Friday.

The planes will include five 737 Max aircraft, the Gurugram-based airline said, without disclosing the list price.

As of June 2023, its fleet comprised 91 aircraft, according to the SpiceJet website. It was not immediately clear if the figure included the 25 planes it had grounded.

The low-cost carrier is trying to revive the grounded fleet, the latest being a partnership with FTAI Aviation for the lease of 20 engines.

SpiceJet said the grounded planes will resume services soon.

"The induction of these planes, which coincides with the peak travel season in India, will help us launch new routes and strengthen our presence on existing ones," SpiceJet said in a statement.

A strong travel rebound post-COVID has helped airline operators to book profits, spurring rival IndiGo's Interglobe Aviation to plan capacity additions and dial up orders to keep up with surging air travel demand.

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami)