NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: Interglobe Aviation, the owner of budget Indian airline IndiGo, forecast a strong year ahead on Monday, after the collapse of Jet Airways Ltd helped the company report a fivefold jump in profit for the fourth quarter.
IndiGo, the country’s largest airline by market share, gained passengers in recent months given funding woes at Jet Airways Ltd, which started grounding its fleet early this year. Jet was forced to stop all operations eventually.
“Looking ahead, it is difficult not to be bullish about the future,” Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said in a statement.
On a post-earnings call Dutta said the shutdown at Jet increased revenue per available seat kilometre by 3%-4%.
That number, a measure of the carrier’s operating earnings, rose 5.9% to 3.63 rupees in January-March.
Available seat kilometres, a measure of the airline’s passenger carrying capacity, is expected to rise 30% in the current fiscal year.
High fuel prices, a weak rupee and an intense competition hurt profitability in the first half of the year, Dutta said, adding there was “a sharp recovery” in the second half.
Jet’s troubles have allowed IndiGo and other carriers such as SpiceJet to raise prices on some routes. (Reuters)
