Budget carrier SpiceJet today signed an initial pact with the US aircraft maker Boeing Co for 40 737 MAX planes.

Bogged down by demonetisation and higher fuel costs, SpiceJet on Tuesday reported a 24 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 181.1 crore in three months ended December 2016 even as the second largest low-cost carrier remained in the black for the eighth straight quarter.

Singh's comment came in the backdrop of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) setting up a committee recently to look into the OTP monitoring system of domestic carriers at four airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru after another budget carrier IndiGo complained that the current system was flawed.

The aviation sector in India seems to be obsessed with big numbers. The large aircraft orders by domestic carriers continue to grab headlines with the most recent announcement by low-cost carrier (LCC) SpiceJet.

SpiceJet, which was briefly forced to ground its fleet in late 2014 when it ran out of cash, is the fourth-largest Indian airline behind InterGlobe Aviation's IndiGo, Jet Airways and state-run Air India.

In one of the biggest deals in the Indian aviation sector, SpiceJet will purchase up to 205 new aircraft from Boeing with the order valued at Rs 1,50,000 crore.

After long drawn discussions, SpiceJet is all set to announce an order for 90-100 new aircraft estimated to be worth at least Rs 55,000 crore as the no-frills carrier looks to expand its fleet.

The cap on airfares would be reviewed periodically based on Consumer Price Index and would also vary in accordance with duration of a flight under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), which has been named 'UDAN' (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik).

State Finance Minister Amit Mitra said under a new state government policy, any additional or new flight from Kolkata would attract a 15-per cent tax on aviation turbine fuel.

This is the \"sixth consecutive profitable quarter\" after challenges faced by the company in December 2014 and the change in management as well as control,\" SpiceJet said in a filing to BSE on Wednesday.

After scripting one of the most remarkable turnaround stories of recent times, Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet, may finally start taking a salary - for the first time since he took charge of the ailing budget carrier in January 2015.

Currently listed on BSE, SpiceJet is one of the few companies which are not trading on NSE. Generally, most of the prominent entities are listed on both the exchanges.

The airline reported a net profit of Rs 22.52 crore in year-ago period. In the latest March quarter, the airline took a \"one-time expense of Rs 173 crore towards stabilising and improving the reliability of its fleet\".

The immense popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has finally earned him a place in Madame Tussauds, a museum known to create and put on display the wax statues of celebrities and politicians from across the globe.

In a united voice, the top honchos of SpiceJet, IndiGo, GoAir and Jet Airways under the umbrella of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) asserted that 5/20 rule is not protectionist.

Reacting strongly to the charge, low-cost carrier SpiceJet's chief Ajay Singh asked him to rather advice Vistara and AirAsia India to first serve India and then seek to fly international.

The airline has cut down its debt burden by Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 800 crore in the last one year. The amount stood at around Rs 2,000 crore a year ago, said airline's chief Ajay Singh. 

In the 2014 December quarter, the airline had incurred a net loss of Rs 275.03 crore. Total income from operations jumped to Rs 1,459.95 crore in the latest December quarter compared to Rs 1,311.18 crore in the year-ago period.

SpiceJet plans to order new aircraft for its fleet during this fiscal and chairman Ajay Singh on Monday underlined the importance of ensuring that aircraft were purchased in \"an optimal manner\".