IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, reported a profit for a fifth straight quarter as the budget carrier captured a higher share of passenger traffic during the period.
Net income rose 53 per cent to 29.98 billion rupees ($362 million) in the three months through Dec. 31, IndiGo said in a stock exchange filing Friday. The airline exceeded Bloomberg’s consensus estimate of 21.27 billion rupees.
Revenue for the third quarter beat estimates at 194.5 billion rupees, 30 per cent above year-earlier levels. Fuel costs rose 18 per cent.
IndiGo is ramping up capacity to seize a bigger chunk of what is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets. Its already large share, currently at 62 per cent, has been growing considering rival SpiceJet Ltd. is struggling financially, while another budget carrier – Go Airlines – filed for insolvency and stopped operations in May.
IndiGo last year made a 500-plane purchase from Airbus SE, a move that could help protect its position from an expanding Air India Ltd.
Its seat capacity rose 26.8 per cent during the period. It is aiming increase capacity by 12 per cent in the fourth quarter, compared with the year before.
The carrier flew 24.3 million passengers from October through December, 23 per cent higher than the year before, according to the country’s aviation regulator.
IndiGo has around 40 aircraft grounded and expects a higher number to be out of service going forward due to required inspections of Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, Chief Financial Officer Gaurav Negi said in November. It’s discussing compensation with the RTX Corp. unit over potentially flawed components in the engines, he said.
ImdiGo will consider introducing out-of-production A320ceo planes into the fleet to prevent capacity shortage due to the engine inspection issues, Negi has said.
