India's SpiceJet converts options on 10 Next-Generation Boeing 737s

New Delhi-based SpiceJet has converted its 10 options with Boeing into an order for five Next-Generation 737-800s and five 737-900ERs. The order is valued at more than $700 million at list prices and deliveries are scheduled to begin in late 2007.

The options exercised are part of an order SpiceJet originally placed in February 2005. That order included 10 737-800s, the first of which Boeing delivered to the airline in February 2006.

The 10 737s will be fitted with Blended Winglets, which help improve fuel efficiency, increase range and reduce takeoff noise.

SpiceJet, one of India's newest start-up private carriers, uses a single-class seating configuration on its short and medium-haul flights within India. The airline first began service in May 2005 with three leased Boeing 737-800s.

The 737-800 can seat between 162 to 189 passengers, while the 737-900ER is the same size as today's 737-900, but -- with the addition of a pair of exit doors and a flat rear pressure bulkhead -- can carry 26 additional passengers, raising the maximum capacity from 189 to 215 in a single-class layout.

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