Electric bus makers have a huge business opportunity in the airline bus fleets, which transport passengers to and fro from the airport terminal to the aircraft at airports across the country. Spicejet airline has annnounced that will be operating 15 electric coaches at Chennai airport. Two electric coaches have been introduced at Chennai airport, and the airline claims this is a first by an Indian airline. In addition, at least 10 coaches will be introduced at Ahmedabad airport between May and August 2020.

Commenting on the initiative Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet said, “The launch of electric tarmac buses at Chennai airport is one such initiative that sets another benchmark of sustainability in Indian aviation with reduced carbon footprints. We are in the process of introducing more electric buses at Chennai and other airports soon and hope to make air quality more breathable."

Autocar Professional had earlier reported as how JBM Auto, a part of $2.2 billion JBM Group which clocked Rs 120 crore in revenue during FY19, is looking to double the growth in current year despite the overall slowdown in the automotive sector. In fact the company had generated a much lesser revenue of Rs 17 crore in FY18. The optimism for JBM management’s projections seems to be coming from a recent order in October wherein about 300 buses were ordered by airline companies such as Spicejet and Indigo as well as from State transport undertakings of Delhi Integrated Multi- Modal Transport System (DIMTS) and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC).

Talking to Autocar Professional, Nishant Arya, executive director, JBM had earlier said, “SpiceJet is looking to completely change its completely to JBM. Already that has started. Indigo is doing that, Delhi government is doing that”. He emphasised that the new orders which the company is getting are a mix of CNG and EV from large corporates or State Transport Undertakings (STU)s, having long term vision.