Low-cost carrier SpiceJet on Monday announced plans to connect Kolkata with Hyderabad with effect from February 4.

Flight SG 527 will leave Kolkata daily at 2.15 p.m. and reach Hyderabad at 4.15 p.m. The same flight would then go to Bangalore leaving Hyderabad at 4.45 p.m. and arrive in Bangalore at 6.00 p.m. This would also be SpiceJet's second daily flight to Bangalore from Kolkata the other one being via Chennai in the morning.

Addressing a news conference here, Mr Sanjay Kumar, Vice-President (Marketing & Planning), SpiceJet Ltd, said the airline currently operates 118 flights a day to 14 destinations across the country.

Wider reach

By June, it would extend its footprint to new destinations. Plans were being firmed up to connect Kolkata to Jaipur, Goa, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar and Port Blair. Next year, Kolkata would be connected to regional destinations such as Bagdogra, Dibrugarh and Agartala.

Mr Kumar said plans to augment the airline's aircraft fleet from 11 at present to 18 by the end of the current calendar year have been firmed up and $65 million that would be required in this regard as part of the company's fleet expansion plans has been raised.

According to him, the airline currently has a market share of nine per cent against a capacity share of 11 per cent. With an augmented fleet, it is looking at a market share of 14-15 per cent by the year-end, he said.