SpiceJet resumes operations despite ticket-cancelling spree by passengers

SpiceJet, the troubled private carrier, resumed operations on Thursday after Wednesday's chaos as hundreds of passengers cancelled their tickets and shifted to other airlines due to uncertainty plaguing its services.

Till 6:00 pm on Thursday, SpiceJet operated 21 of 32 scheduled flights from IGI Airport, where 21 of 38 flights also arrived from other destinations, airport sources said.

The private carrier's officials refused to provide any details, claiming that the airline would operate "all 230 flights scheduled to operate for the day".

Beleaguered budget airline SpiceJet ran into turbulence on Wednesday after all its flights were grounded for about 10 hours before it made cash payments to oil companies enabling it to partly resume operations in the evening.

Despite resumption of its services, the uncertainty over SpiceJet's operations spoilt the dreams of hundreds of people who had bought the airline's tickets to enjoy the upcoming year-end vacations.

Large number of SpiceJet travellers went on a ticket-cancelling spree, with many of them shifting to other airlines, according to officials of travel portals and agencies.

The demand for air tickets generated by SpiceJet's cancellations led domestic ticket prices to skyrocket, with one-way Delhi-Mumbai fares rising by an average of 45 per cent to Rs 14,484 over Rs 9,995 in December 2013.

On similar lines, fares for the Delhi-Bangalore route zoomed by 57 per cent to Rs 17,570 from Rs 11,189 a year ago, travel agencies and portals said.

Amid this turbulence, one of the original promoters of SpiceJet, Ajay Singh, met Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday afternoon, giving strong indications that Singh, who had exited from the carrier over four years ago, was coming back.