InterGlobe Aviation Ltd , the operator of India’s top airline IndiGo, on Friday reported an eleven-fold jump in quarterly profit, led by a pick up in demand for air travel. The airline has been contending with surging fuel costs and currency volatility that hit profit for the past three quarters.
However, a sharp recovery in demand for air travel to near pre-COVID levels in the domestic and international markets more than offset the fuel expenses. IndiGo projects capacity in available seat per kilometre this quarter to expand to 45 per cent from a year earlier. Yields, a metric for profitability, rose 21.9 per cent to 5.38 rupees per kilometre from a year earlier, while the carrier’s load factor, or the passenger carrying capacity being utilized, improved 5.4 percentage points to 85.1 per cent.
“Third quarter performance was strong both operationally and financially in the backdrop of robust demand for air travel,” Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers said in a statement. The company’s profit came in at 14.18 billion rupees ($173.22 million) in the quarter that ended Dec. 31, from 1.28 billion rupees a year earlier. Revenue from operations surged about 61 per cent to 149.33 billion rupees.
