India’s SpiceXpress eyes electric fleet by 2024

SpiceXpress – the cargo division currently being spun off by parent SpiceJet (SG, Delhi Int’l) – has confirmed it is exploring the acquisition of electric freighters being developed by US-based Bye Aerospace (Denver Centennial).

“We have signed a preliminary MoU [Memorandum of Understanding] to work collaboratively on this,” confirmed Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Gupta.

He was responding to a query from ch-aviation following a report by The Hindu Business Line that SpiceXpress had inked an MoU with India’s Pifore Group to work together on a pilot project to promote carbon emission-free electric aircraft. Pifore in turn had signed an MoU with Colorado-based Bye Aerospace to deliver five electric cargo aircraft to be leased by SpiceXpress by 2024 and another five by 2026. The total investment was reportedly between INR300 million rupee (USD4 million) and INR500 million (USD6.6 million).

Pifore Group provides engineering, construction, and technical services for public/government agencies and private sector companies in India.

Bye Aerospace specialises in the design and manufacture of electric aircraft, including unmanned aircraft. The company is in the process of FAA certifying a family of electric aircraft, including:

the two-seat eFlyer 2;
the four-seat eFlyer 4;
the eight to twelve-seat seat eFlyer 800 business jet.
Gupta confirmed to ch-aviation that SpiceXpress is still in the process of being hived-off from its parent company, which will see it operating on its own Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC).

The cargo specialist currently deploys a fleet of three B737-700(BDSF)s, two B737-800(BCF)s, and seven DHC-8-Q400s, according to ch-aviation fleets advanced data.

SpiceXpress reported a 5% increase in revenue of INR4.97 billion (USD66.5 million) for the second quarter ending September 30, 2021, compared to INR4.73 billion (USD63.3 million) in the last quarter.