The Spice is Right..

Congratulations to SpiceJet, the low-cost carrier for the Indian domestic market, which has just secured recognition at the World Travel Market for it's growth and multi-channel approach to distribution.

World Travel Market Chairman Fiona Jeffery presented an award to the carrier’s CEO Sanjay Aggarwal, at today’s WTM 30th Anniversary VIP Opening & Reception Ceremony.

SpiceJet currently connects 18 domestic destinations with 125 daily departures. The depth of its network provides customers a variety of options for interconnecting flights, giving them access to second tier destinations via connections at major hubs.

It has been growing recently, despite the economic pressures. SpiceJet increased its daily departures from 98 in October 2008 to 125 by May 2009. Its market has increased from 7.9% in September 2008 to 12.8% in June 2009, making it the fastest growing airline in India during this period. During the first seven months of the current year, SpiceJet’s passenger traffic has grown 14% compared to a 5% decline in the overall Indian domestic traffic.

Unlike many other low-cost airlines, it has a multi-channel approach to sales - 24% of bookings come directly from consumers booking at www.spicejet.com, 14% book through its call centers, online travel agents account for 30% with offline travel agents its largest sales channel with 32%.

It differs from other low-cost carriers by having a cargo business, which covers 13 stations. It has carried more than 19000 tones of cargo since May 2008. This side of the business currently contributes more than 3% of its total revenue.

Overall, it deserves credit for having made a profit while growing during an economic slowdown In the first three months of the year it made a profit of INR 26.3 crores (£3.6m) after two quarters of near breakeven numbers.