The country?s largest domestic carrier by marketshare, Jet Airways, has taken a huge hit on its balance sheet, especially in its fuel bill and plane leasing costs due to the declining rupee. However, the carrier expects the fall in the rupee to boost sales as it gets more than 40% of its total revenue from overseas operations, a senior official in the top management of the carrier said.
Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, its CEO said that the carrier will break-even and likely report a net profit in the next financial year. It expects to post an annual group revenue of about $4 billion in the next fiscal; this includes revenue from the low-fare unit JetLite.
Jet Airways, meanwhile, is looking to raise fares by up to 10% in October. It is in the process of finalising a proposal to raise $400 million through a rights issue and another $400 million via equity offering, both of which were delayed last year due to volatile market conditions.
?Fuel is a key factor as it is hitting us hard. We also have a situation of overcapacity where (industry) load factors are running at 50%,?said Prock-Schauer. Jet reported a net loss of Rs 250 crore on total income of Rs 9,480 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2008.
He also informed that the carrier is also considering buying a 24% stake in a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility being established by the GMR Group at the new Hyderabad airport.
Jet is all set to start flights to Saudi Arabia later this year and add more to Dubai and Hong Kong among other international and domestic destinations. International operations currently comprise half of the airline?s revenue, which is expected to increase going forward as it adds more routes, Prock-Schauer said.
Jet has a fleet of 85 planes, mainly from Boeing and Airbus. 46 of them are on lease.