NEW DELHI: Private carrier SpiceJet has been designated as the Indian carrier to operate the agreed services between India and the USA under the so-called "air bubble" arrangements.
The flights to the USA will mark a first for SpiceJet and will be a big step in the airline's 16-year journey.
"This is to inform you that in terms of the Air Services Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America, SpiceJet has been designated as Indian scheduled carrier to operate agreed services between India and the USA," SpiceJet said in a statement on Thursday.
SpiceJet will also be the second carrier from India that would fly to and from the United States. The other one is the national carrier Air India.
Jet Airways used to fly between India and the USA through code sharing before it announced bankruptcy in April last year.
SpiceJet did not inform which aircraft it would deploy for the long-haul destination. Spicejet currently operates single-aisle narrow-body aircrafts for its domestic and international operations, but for operations to the US, they would need wide-body aircrafts.
Currently, only Air India and Vistara have wide-body aircraft like B787 in their fleet. SpiceJet Boss Ajay Singh had last month said that Indian airlines need to start looking for wide-body aircraft as it would allow them to take passengers directly from India to different parts of the world.
Last week, civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri had said that to further expand India's international civil aviation operations, air bubble arrangements with US, UAE, France and Germany have been put in place while similar arrangements are also being worked out with several other countries.
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