FlyDubai CFO to head India's Spicejet

Dubai, July 7, 2010

The chief financial officer of Dubai's low-cost carrier FlyDubai, Neil Mills, has resigned and joined India's budget airline Spicejet as chief executive, the Dubai-based company said on Wednesday.

Mills will join Spicejet in October, a spokesman for state-owned FlyDubai told Reuters.

Mills will takeover from Spicejet's former chief executive Sanjay Aggarwal, who quit less than a month after the founder of India's Sun TV Network, Kalanithi Maran, agreed to buy a 37.7 per cent stake in the airline.

Maran and his unlisted aviation firm Kal Airways has also unveiled plans to make an open offer for 20 per cent more in SpiceJet.

According to a public announcement of the open offer issued on June 14, the acquirers, subject to regulatory approval, also propose to change the name and registered office of Delhi-based SpiceJet upon the offer completion and acquisition of shares.

Spicejet has a fleet of 20 aircraft and plans to add another five this fiscal year. It has a share of little above 12 per cent in the domestic market and plans to start international flights in July.

On Tuesday, Dubai's Istithmar sold its 6.9 per cent stake in SpiceJet for $25.3 million, two sources had told Reuters. Spicejet reported a net profit of Rs614 million for 2009/10 against a loss of Rs3.33 billion a year ago on traffic surge and better capacity utilisation.-Reuters

Tags: India | SpiceJet | FlyDubai CFO |