Jet Airways  said on Friday it made a net loss of 21 billion rupees ($329 million) in the year ending in March, about half the size of the loss it made last year, after earning more in passenger revenues.

For the final quarter of the year, Jet said it lost 17.29 billion rupees, down from last year’s 21.54 billion rupees, its worst-ever.

Naresh Goyal, Chairman, Jet Airways, said: “FY15 was an encouraging year when we set out to change the fundamentals of this business, allowing us to deliver a significant improvement in our net result. This demonstrates unequivocally that the three-year turnaround plan we put in place last year is on track.”

“While the Indian aviation market is still subject to ongoing structural challenges and robust competition is placing pressure on yields, we will continue to progress by focusing on delivering an enhanced experience for our guests and improving efficiency throughout the business,” he added.

Jet, India’s second-biggest carrier by market share after privately held IndiGo, has announced a cost-cutting plan and said it expects to make a full-year profit in 2017.

The airline, 24 percent owned by Abu Dhabi’s Etihad, has not made an annual profit since 2007, as tough competition and high operating costs in India’s aviation industry make it difficult to turn a profit.

Cramer Ball, CEO, Jet Airways said: “We have made significant progress on all key fronts of the business, and achieved substantial growth in all of our major key performance indicators in a turbulent and competitive business environment.”

Jet Airways Group FY15 highlights:
*   Total revenue up by INR 1,930 cr or 10.1 % to INR 20,966 cr in FY15 from INR 19,036 cr in FY14
*   Passenger revenue rose by INR 1,698 cr or 10.6% to INR 17,703 cr in FY15 versus INR 16,005 cr in FY14
*   EBITDA in FY15 was positive INR 209 cr compared to negative INR 903 cr in FY14
*   The difference between the net results and operating results is primarily attributable to non-cash impairment of goodwill of INR 1,172 cr.
*   Passengers carried increased by 9.6% to 22.5 million passengers in FY15 from 20.5 million in FY14
*   Seat load factor up 4.7 percentage points to 82.3% in FY15 from 77.6% in FY14
*   Overall RASK increased by 4% to INR 4.68 in FY15 from INR 4.50 in FY14
*   Aircraft utilisation grew by 5.4% to an average 11.6 hours in FY15 compared to 11 hours in FY14
*   Cargo revenue up INR 83 cr or 6% to INR 1,467 cr in FY15 from INR 1,384 cr in FY14
*  Codeshare traffic surged by 90% from 644,091 passengers carried in FY14 to 1,221,468 in FY15
*  Passengers and revenues delivered by Etihad Airways and Etihad Airways Partners rose by 427% and 363% respectively

($1 = 63.7945 Indian rupees)