Summary
- IndiGo, India’s largest airline, posted a net profit of over $20 million for the second quarter, surpassing industry expectations.
- The airline has been consistently profitable, with its highest-ever quarterly net profit of $373 million in the previous quarter.
- Despite seasonal fluctuations and external challenges, IndiGo completed a full cycle of profitability for the last four quarters and has expanded its network both domestically and internationally.
India’s largest airline, IndiGo, announced its financial results for the second quarter of this year, posting a net profit of more than $20 million. The airline has enjoyed consecutive profitable quarters lately as the industry continues to make a post-pandemic recovery, and its second quarter has been better than what industry experts predicted.
Better-than-expected quarter
IndiGo has posted a net profit of $23 million in the quarter ending September of 2023. In India, this is considered the second quarter, with the financial year cycle starting on April 1st. This is a huge improvement, considering IndiGo posted a net loss of $190 million in the corresponding period last year.
Photo: BoeingMan777 | Shutterstock
IndiGo has been profitable for quite some time now. In the last quarter of FY22-23, it posted a net profit of $110 million, and in the previous quarter ending June, the carrier announced its highest-ever quarterly net profit of $373 million.
The quarter that just ended is traditionally considered weak in terms of passenger demand. IndiGo has, in fact, performed much better than market expectations, which had predicted the carrier to make a bottom-line loss of $240 million.
Key figures
IndiGo’s recent profit comes against a revenue of almost $1.8 billion, which is 19.6% more than what it made in the same quarter last year. Comparing its numbers to the second quarter of 2022, its capacity increased by 27.7%, passenger number increased by 33.4% to 26.3 million, yield declined by 12.4% to ₹4.44, and load factor improved by 4.1 points to 83.3%. Pieter Elbers, IndiGo’s CEO, commented,
“I am pleased to report yet another profitable quarter despite the seasonal fluctuations and external headwinds coming into play. With our clear strategy and focus on execution, we have completed a full cycle and remained profitable for the last four quarters. We continued to augment our network both domestically and internationally as we added 10 new destinations in the past few months, taking the total number of destinations to 115 as of today. My deepest gratitude to all 6E employees for their hard work, determination, and passion they bring to their roles in serving our loyal IndiGo customers.”
Photo: ANAND G IYER | Shutterstock
Busy months ahead
IndiGo’s profitable streak will likely continue as India sees a robust demand for travel. IndiGo, which now commands more than 60% of India’s domestic market, has already announced or started various new routes within and outside of India.
The airline now operates more than 49,000 flights within India each month and recently announced its 85th domestic destination, Gondia, in the state of Maharashtra. To its international network, IndiGo has added 20 routes in the last six months, which includes both new services as well as flight resumption.
What are your views on this? Please leave a comment below.