Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov.23: Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Minister of Civil Aviation, flew a SpiceJet special flight between Delhi and Gwalior today, using a Boeing 737 Max plane that was allowed to return to service after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India grounded all Boeing 737 Max planes on March 13, 2019, three days after an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max airliner crashed near Addis Ababa, killing 157 people, including four Indians.
SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh and Boeing India President Salil Gupte were also present on the special flight today, in addition to Jyotiraditya Scindia.
The flight SG9945 departed Delhi at 2:50 p.m. and arrived in Gwalior at approximately 3:50 p.m.
SpiceJet, the country’s only operator of Boeing 737 Max planes, struck a USD 22 billion deal with Boeing in 2017 for up to 205 Max planes and now has 13 of them in its fleet.
The DGCA lifted the ban on 737 Max jets’ commercial flight operations on August 26 this year after Boeing completed essential software corrections over the last two and a half years.
At a press conference before the flight, Mr Singh said, “We are going to provide broadband Internet on board on Max planes and it will be free initially. However, voice calling will be disabled as it would disturb other passengers.”
Boeing 737 Max planes will have five rows of premium economy seating on this plane, he added.
He claims that the fact that the plane uses 20% less fuel than its competitors benefits at a time when oil costs are high. Singh pointed out that this plane could fly greater distances to areas like Moscow and Turkey, where previous planes like the 737-800 couldn’t. According to him, the plane is flying in most nations across the world and is operated by 33 airlines.
SpiceJet’s fleet would be built on Boeing 737 Max planes, he said. Mr Singh stated that the airline will begin flying 737 Max aircraft powered by Boeing’s sustainable aviation fuel in the near future.
SpiceJet announced on November 17 that it had reached an agreement with Boeing, a US-based aerospace corporation, to settle outstanding claims relating to the 737 Max’s grounding and return to service.
