SpiceJet may be one of the most profitable low-cost airlines in India, but that has not stopped its management from dreaming bigger. On the sidelines of a summit, Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh dropped plenty of hints about the future of the company.
While he refused to take names, Singh said that SpiceJet was considering entering into major business partnerships with two American companies, including an American-based airline. The comments came at the Annual Leadership Summit of US-India Strategic and Partnership Summit in Washington DC.
"As you know, aviation is a fairly high-risk enterprise," Singh said, adding that the SpiceJet was working to diversify activities beyond aviation. Specifically, the company was targeting the digital and logistics space.
Singh said that the company was targeting entering the cargo, courier and logistics business believing it would play a crucial role in SpiceJet's business in the years to come. If SpiceJet does enter the logistics space, it would be the first budget airline in India to do so.
Singh also made it clear that the company was looking at logistics on the whole, and not just cargo or courier and would have some "strategic understanding" with US companies to enter the area.
"We must hedge ourselves from the risk of being in a pure aviation business and find the businesses which are connected to aviation, which would be a little more insulated from the high cost of fuel and so on. So, we are looking at some new areas. We will be making announcements at the appropriate time. We believe that there are significant strategic partnerships that we can enter into and we will be announcing them soon."
The company has been doing extremely well over the last three years, with profitability and expansions making it one of the best functioning budget airlines in India. Along with IndiGo, it is the only carrier to have posted a profit for the last 13 quarters consecutively.
The company is also considering international routes and has placed orders for wide-bodied aircraft from Boeing in search of international profits.
