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SpiceJet launching London flights next month
Indian budget carrier SpiceJet has secured slot access at London Heathrow, and will start flying to the UK in September.
It was granted the slots under the UK-India ‘air bubble’ bilateral arrangement and has use of them from 1 September until at least 23 October, SpiceJet said in a filing.
It hopes to continue flying to Heathrow beyond 23 October when the new winter schedule begins.
The carrier said it is in ‘advance discussion to secure slots for the winter schedule for regular operations’.
"London is one of the busiest long-haul destinations from India and this is a huge milestone for SpiceJet. This is a dream that we have long cherished," said SpiceJet Chairman & Managing Director Ajay Singh.
It hopes to operate daily to Heathrow but hasn’t yet disclosed where it will fly from in India. It has a base in Delhi and is expected to fly from there, but this hasn’t been confirmed.
SpiceJet first applied a year ago to temporarily take over the slots of bankrupt Jet Airways but was unsuccessful then.
To operate the fights SpiceJet has taken a wide body Airbus A330 on a wet lease.
India currently has a ban on international flights which is due to expire at the end of August.
Cargo and repatriation charter flights are still permitted.
By Ray Montgomery, Asia Pacific editor
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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