SpiceJet to fly its maiden long-haul flight on 1 Aug
The carrier will operate its first long-haul flight from Amsterdam on 1 August, which will arrive at Bengaluru and Hyderabad the next dayThe Gurgaon-budget based carrier had last week said it has been designated as a scheduled carrier to operate to the US and UK
NEW DELHI : Budget carrier SpiceJet Ltd will operate its first long-haul flight between Amsterdam, Bengaluru and Hyderabad on 1-2 August, an airline spokesperson said on Monday, adding that it will subsequently operate several such long-haul charter flights.
The airline will operate an Airbus A330-900neo aircraft, which can fly not-stop to Europe and the US, on its long-haul flights, the spokesperson added.
The Gurugram-based budget carrier had last week said that it has been designated as a scheduled carrier to operate to the US and the UK. SpiceJet has never flown a long-haul flight, operating its narrow-body fleet to West Asia and South East Asian countries.
International flights to and from India had been suspended since March as various countries went into lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, though state-owned Air India operated flights to bring stranded Indians back home.
Since then, private airlines, including foreign carriers, are operating flights to bring back Indians, while ferrying others back to their countries.
Last week, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said that India was in talks with the US, France and Germany, to resume international flights under ‘bilateral air bubbles’. Indian private carriers will also be given an opportunity to fly on the long-haul routes provided they operate wide-body aircraft, he added.
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