Mumbai: Budget carrier SpiceJet on Thursday said it has been designated as the "Indian scheduled carrier," to operate flights to the US.
SpiceJet would be the first Indian budget carrier to operate services to the United States.
Currently, only the national carrier Air India is operating flights on India-US routes.
In a regulatory filing SpiceJet said it has been designated as an Indian scheduled carrier to operate on agreed services between the two countries.
This has been done in terms of the Air Services Agreement between India and the United States, the filing said.
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All international commercial air passenger services are suspended since March 22, in the wake of travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
SpiceJet Chairman & Managing Director Ajay Singh said the designation as an Indian scheduled carrier to operate between India and the US would help the airline in planning its international expansion in a much better and calibrated manner.
"I have always maintained that there is an opportunity in every adversity and the present crisis situation has seen SpiceJet rise to the occasion and play a pivotal role," he said.
SpiceJet to operate flights on India-UK routes
SpiceJet has been designated as "Indian scheduled carrier" to operate flight services to the UK from India, the Gurugram-based no-frills airline said in a regulatory filing on Friday.
"We would like to inform you that in terms of the Air Services Agreement between the Government of India and the United Kingdom, SpiceJet has been designated as Indian scheduled carrier to operate on agreed services between India and the UK," SpiceJet said in the filing.
An air service agreement is a bilateral agreement to allow international commercial air transport services between signatories.
SpiceJet gets the nod to fly to the UK at a time when all international commercial air passenger services are suspended since March 22 due to visa and travel restrictions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, various evacuation and charter flights are being currently operated to fly back stranded Indians in various countries and also transport foreign nationals, who are stuck in India, to their countries.
Currently, government-run Air India is the only domestic airline flying between India and the UK.
(PTI Report)
