India’s SpiceJet to wet-lease A330, B767 for cargo ops

SpiceJet (SG, Delhi Int’l) has announced that it will wet-lease an unspecified A330 and a B767 for its growing cargo business under the SpiceXpress brand. “With the latest induction, SpiceXpress, the airline’s cargo arm, aims to further strengthen its cargo fleet while providing a seamless and secure transportation of COVID-19 vaccine,” the airline said in a press release distributed to Indian media. It did not reveal any further details about the variants of the aircraft or their operators and did not respond to ch-aviation’s request for further information. AirNav RadarBox ADS-B data has not recorded any A330 or B767 flights under SpiceJet’s code in recent days. SpiceXpress’s dedicated freighter fleet currently comprises three B737-700(BDSF)s and two B737-800(BCF)s. The airline has also converted nine DHC-8-Q400s into makeshift freighters to respond to COVID-induced demand, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. Besides the in-house aircraft, SpiceJet also wet-leases an A340-300 from Hi Fly Malta (HFM, Malta Int’l) for cargo-only charters. SpiceJet also operates a passenger fleet of five B737-700s, forty-two B737-800s, four B737-900(ER)s, and twenty-three unconverted DHC-8-Q400s. It also has thirteen B737-8s, which it hopes to reactivate by the end of March 2021.