Ajay Singh-promoted Spicejet’s plans to connect London have been grounded again following its failure to secure slots at the Heathrow, the busiest European airport.
The Gurugram-based airline had applied for slots both at the Heathrow and Manchester to operate direct daily services from Amritsar and Mumbai, respectively, according to a source. It was planning to deploy an Airbus 330 on these routes.
Earlier attempt
Earlier, too, it had attempted to connect London with Delhi and Amritsar from 2019 summer but failed to make it.
SpiceJet has been quite aggressive in its international expansion since the grounding of Jet Airways in April, as it could bag a sizeable number of landing rights in the Gulf and South-East Asia.
“Spicejet has applied for slots for a daily flight between Amritsar and London from this winter. As slots at the Heathrow are very scarce it could not get one,” Airport Coordination Ltd, which is the slot coordinator for Heathrow airport, said in an email to PTI.
A Manchester airport spokesperson, however, refrained from a direct response and said it continues to engage with airlines, including those from India.