Low cost carrier SpiceJet announced on Thursday the launch of a dedicated online web hotel reservation service, offering rooms in about 100 hotels in different parts of the country.
Through the SpiceJet Hotels web site hotels.spicejet.com, customers can book rooms in 13 cities at hotels ranging from two to five star, SpiceJet CEO Siddhanta Sharma told reporters in New Delhi.
"The earlier one books the hotel rooms or packages, the better rates they can get", (discounts) ranging between 15 and 30 per cent, he said, adding even those who are not flying with the airline could make hotel bookings.
The cities where hotel rooms could be booked are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Goa, Ahmedabad, Jammu, Katra, Varanasi and Srinagar.
The airline has entered into an agreement with travel firm Yatra Online for the service.
Replying to questions, Sharma said low-cost carriers in the US and Europe earned quite a chunk of their revenues from ancilliary activities like car rentals, hotels, credit cards, cancellations and re-bookings.
European airline Ryan Air earned between 18 to 20 per cent from such activities, he said, adding that out of the Rs 420 crore (Rs 4.2 billion) total revenue last year, SpiceJet earned four per cent from ancilliary activities.
"We want to raise this percentage to seven per cent this year", Sharma said. SpiceJet operates 55 flights daily covering 13 cities, offering tickets at fares comparable with AC first and second class of the railways.
The airline which has six Boeing 737-800s now, plans to raise its fleet strength to 20 in the next three years.
