Indian carrier SpiceJet will expand its international and domestic network by adding new routes for January 2021.
SpiceJet will boost its international network by adding direct two weekly flights from Mumbai (BOM) India to Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK), the United Arab Emirates, the newly set hub in the Gulf region. The airline has scheduled the launch of the route for January 15, 2020. The Indian air carrier established its first international hub in the UAE with BOM-RAK service on November 26, 2020.
SpiceJet also plans to increase the frequency of its flights from Delhi (DEL) to RAK from twice a week to four flights weekly. The airline seems to be eager to expand its UAE operations following the recent competitor Air India Express’s decision to expand the operations to Sharjah (SHJ) and Dubai (DXB) from cities across the country.
Air India Express, which reportedly operates the maximum number of services connecting India and the UAE, has already enhanced the frequency of flights to SHJ to a total of 100 flights for January 2021 ‒ up from 74 flights in December 2020. The SpiceJet competitor also increased the number of operations to DXB to 310 flights for January 2021, having concluded 255 flights in December 2020.
However, it seems that SpiceJet is not intended to surrender to its rival in the competition for the UAE market.
As for domestic routes, SpiceJet will add additional destinations from Mumbai to different regions of the country, including Odisha, Bengaluru, Porbandar, and others. The air carrier set the date for the launch of new domestic operations on January 12, 2021. Speaking to local media the airline suggested that it would operate a mix of its Boeing 737 and Bombardier Q400 aircraft on the updated domestic network.